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One of the charming aspects of the first half of the eighteenth century French painting was the considerable number of portraits that now constitute a gallery of the notable figures of the day. Among the finest examples is the portrait of the engraver Jean Mariette by Antoine Pesne. The sitter is smiling wryly under his wig, his hand on an album of prints.
Jean Mariette (1660-1742) was the father of the famous print collector Pierre-Jean Mariette (1694-1774), a renowned connoisseur, especially of prints and drawings, and a chronicler of the careers of French Italian and Flemish artists. He was a central figure in the artistic culture of Paris for decades.
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