NICOLAS DE PLATTEMONTAGNE | Portrait study of a woman holding a bouquet

Acquis à la vente dite « François de Troy », Paris, Hôtel Drouot, M^e Tilorier, 2 mars 1983, n°183

Evreux, Musée municipal, À l'école de Philippe de Champaigne, 2007, n°49, repr. ;
Rennes, 2012, n°43 (notice par Frédérique Lanoë) ;
Sceaux, 2013 (sans catalogue)

D. Brême, Portraits, têtes et figures: quelques feuilles en quête d'auteur, dans N. Sainte Fare Garnot, Dessins français aux XVII^e et XVIII^e siècles, Paris, 2003, pp.250-251, fig.4 ; 
Trois maîtres du dessin: Philippe de Champaigne (1602-1674), Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne (1631-1681), Nicolas de Plattemontagne (1631-1706), cat. exp., Magny-les-Hameaux, musée national de Port-Royal-des-Champs, 2009, p.163, n°181

Light foxing throughout. Hinged to mount at top with japan paper tabs. Further such tabs attached to the other three sides, to permit handling. Slight thin areas in bottom corners, but sheet otherwise in good condition. Media extremely fresh and strong. Sold unframed.
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This original and accomplished drawing is an important late work by Nicolas de Plattemontagne, which significantly helps to define the artist’s drawing style towards the end of his career.  It was only with the 2009 exhibition at Port-Royal des Champs, in the catalogue of which this intriguing portrait study was included, that a clear image of the style and chronology of Nicolas de Plattemontagne’s drawings was presented for the first time.  Prior to this, his drawings had all too often been confused with those of his teacher, Philippe de Champaigne (1602-1674), and the latter’s son Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne (1631-1681), or with other contemporaries such as François de Troy (1645-1730), to whom the Adrien drawing was formerly given.  The comprehensive presentation alongside each other at Port-Royal des Champs of drawings by both Champaignes and Plattemontagne allowed for illuminating comparisons to be made, and for patterns to emerge, which have greatly benefitted our understanding of the drawing styles of these three significant artists.

The most distinctive aspects of the Adrien drawing are: the firm, bold strokes of the trois crayons; the way the artist’s attention is focussed on the costume, rather than the sitter’s features; the careful revisiting – in a different and livelier combination of chalks – of the hand holding the small posy of flowers; and the dramatic, if only sketchily indicated, ‘coiffure à la Fontange.’  This last, a distinctive, structured combination hairstyle and headdress, only became fashionable towards the very end of the 17^th century, permitting Frédérique Lanoë to say with some certainty that this is a late drawing by the artist, dating from circa 1690-1700.  

Although his initial talent seems to have been for portraiture, it was as a history painter that Plattemontagne gained entry to the Académie, in 1665.  In 1681 he was named professor, and for the remainder of his career, he participated in many aspects of the life of the Académie and continued to win significant commissions, but for a variety of reasons very few of his most important works have survived, and after his death in 1706, Plattemontagne’s name faded rather rapidly from public view.