Robert Nanteuil (1623–1678)

• Was  a French portrait artist, engraver, draughtsman and pastellist.
• He was born in Reims in 1623, the son of Lancelot Nanteuil, a wool merchant of Reims.
• He studied philosophy in his native Reims but was already an engraver by the time he defended his thesis in 1645.
• He studied engraving under his brother-in-law, Nicolas Regnesson, whose sister he married in 1646.
• In 1647 he moved to Paris.
• Around 1650 he became a collaborator and friend of the master engraver Abraham Bosse.
• By 1657 he was pensioned by Louis XIV and appointed designer and engraver of the king's cabinet.
• Nanteuil's clientele included the Sun King himself, Cardinal Richelieu, Queen Christina of Sweden.
• He died at Paris on 9 December 1678.
• His pupils included Pieter van Schuppen and Domenico Tempesti.
• He drew 155 of his 221 portraits from life.
• The displayed painting is a crop from: Robert Nanteuil, Self-portrait, 1665-1669.
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