RIGAUD, Hyacinthe
(b. 1659, Perpignan, d. 1743, Paris)

Portrait of Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet

1698
Oil on canvas, 72 x 59 cm
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Over seventy when Rigaud painted his portrait, the bishop and tutor to the Dauphin was a celebrated preacher, whose funeral orations were published and enthusiastically circulated. Well aware of his worth, he wears a fortune in silk moiré. For all his air of benevolence, Bossuet was instrumental in shaping the French Catholic Church and the absolute monarchy.




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