LA HYRE, Laurent de
(b. 1606, Paris, d. 1656, Paris)

St John of Matha, Founder of the Order of the Trinitarians

-
Oil on canvas and wood, 34 x 23 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

In 1648 for the refectory of the convent of the Miinims on the Place Royale in Paris, Laurent de La Hyre painted a series of grisailles representing the prophet Elijah, Christ, St John the Baptist, and effigies of saintly founders of orders or doctors of the Church. That decoration disappeared when the convent was demolished in 1926, it is known only by the series of seventeen small-format grisaille studies painted on canvas. The figures are all full-length and wear a draped white robe that some historians describe as antique.

This picture is one of the seventeen studies.