Robert Nanteuil - Christina Queen of Sweden

Christina, Queen of Sweden

Robert Nanteuil's original engraving, "Christina, Queen of Sweden" was published by the seventeenth century French artist in 1654. This original portrait engraving hails from the collection of Jean Mariette and bears his signature and the date in his hand on the verso of the engraving. "Christina, Queen of Sweden" is a fine, original example of the portrait art created by Robert Nanteuil, one of the finest French engravers of the 17th century. Nanteuil was appointed Royal engraver to Louis XIV in 1659.

Christina, Queen of Sweden

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Title:	Christina, Queen of Sweden
Artist:	Nanteuil, Robert (Rheims, 1623 - Paris, 1678)
Date:	1654
Medium:	Original Line Engraving
Note:	Robert Nanteuil: Probably the most celebrated master of the engraved portrait in the history of art, Robert Nanteuil was instructed in the art by Nicolas Regnesson, Boke and Phillippe de Champagne. Nanteuil dedicated most of his early works to portrait drawing and it was this work that first drew him almost exclusively to engraving. His first engraved portraits owe in their conventions a debt to the earlier portraits of Claude Mellan, but even in these attempts Robert Nanteuil's clearness and subtlety elevated him beyond any past master.
	Christina, Queen of Sweden is considered as a pivotal work in Robert Nanteuil's development. Here, for the first time, he models the face by adopting a system of short strokes, carefully and closely laid. This would come to form the most distinct element in the French school of portrait.
	In 1659, Robert Nanteuil was appointed Royal engraver to Louis XIV. In this capacity, he urged the King to pass the edict of St. Jean-de-Luz, which elevated engraving to a sister art of painting. Altogether, Nanteuil created about 234 portrait engravings of which most are considered masterpieces. Of these, about ten are held as the epitome of portrait art. Christina, Queen of Sweden is one of them.
Provenance:	From the collection of Jean Mariette, bearing his signature and the date, 1676, in his hand on the verso of the engraving. Mariette (Paris, 1654-1742) was an eminent French engraver and print seller. Of even more importance, he amassed the greatest of old master engravings in all of Europe. (See Bryan's Dictionary of Engravers, Vol. 3, p. 285). One of the finest aspects of his collection was his Nanteuil portraits. He owned extremely early impressions of most of Robert Nanteuil's works. Upon Jean Mariette's death, his collection passed to his son, Pierre, who added to the famous list of old master treasures. The entire collection was sold in Paris in 1775. Some of the finest works of art created by Rembrandt, Durer, Callot and Nanteuil then passed on to various hands.
	This particular impression must have been sold by Mariette in 1689. Below his name and in an equally old hand and quill are written these words: "Gustavo Adolfo Mori - Roma - 1689." Mori also added his catalogue #2666. Obviously, he was no small collector.
	Under the engraved dedication, these words are visible, "No 16, Christina, Regina di Svezia." This is probably in Mori's hand.
Raisonne:	G. K. Nagler, Kunstler - Lexikon, Schwarzenberg & Schumann, Leipzig, Third Edition, volume 11, pp. 212-226.
	Catalogue # 75, First and only State.
Reference:	A. M. Hind, Van Dyck and Portrait Engraving and Etching in the Seventeenth Century, Frederick A. Stokes, New York, 1912, pp. 9-11. This engraving is illustrated on plate 43.
Size:	10 1/8 X 7 3/4 (Sizes in inches are approximate, height preceding width of plate-mark or image.)
	Framed and Matted with 100% Archival Materials
	View larger Framed Image:

Buy Now	Price: $2,200.00 US
Condition:	Printed on mid seventeenth century laid paper and with margins extending about 2mm. past the plate-mark on all sides. A small scuffmark exists on the heavily shaded line on the column, almost directly above the word 'Christina'. Very slight foxing or rust marks are also in evidence, particularly in the upper corners. As previously mentioned, an early collector's writing appears along the lower plate-mark. Christina, Queen of Sweden represents a superb, original example of portrait engraving by Robert Nanteuil.
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