English: Alexander Roslin (Malmö 1718 - 1793 Paris)

Portrait of Jean-Jacques Fournier de Varennes, Marquis de Bellevue (1739-1794)

Oil on canvas

Signed and dated lower left Roslin Sued : / 1766.

91,8 x 73,2 cm; 36⅛ by 28⅞ in.

After training in Malmö, Stockholm and Göteborg in Sweden, notably with Georg Engelhardt Schröder (1684-1750), which enabled him to find his place in the tradition of portraiture in the manner of Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659-1743) and Nicolas de Largillierre (1656-1746), Alexandre Roslin became official painter to Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (1711-1763) and later director of the Swedish Art Academy. He moved to Paris in 1752, after travelling through Europe to polish his skills. His years in France were his most prosperous and successful.

Roslin became a member of the Académie Royale in 1753 and his talent led to him receiving numerous commissions. He produced portraits for the French royal family, including Louis-Philippe I, as well as for sovereigns outside the country of his adoption, notably the famous triple portrait of King Gustaf III with his brothers, now in the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm (inv. NM 1010). His peers – such as Collin de Vermont, Étienne Jeaurat, Boucher and Joseph Vernet – also recognized his talent and sought him out. He exhibited regularly at the Louvre Salons.

By 1766, Roslin was an accomplished painter, much in demand, so it was not surprising that Jean Jacques Fournier de Bellevüe commissioned him for this portrait. Picturing his model standing against a background of sky, in military attire with his sword and the medal of Knight of the Order of Saint-Louis, Roslin portrays the experienced Lieutenant of the King’s Ships as elegant and dignified, but also seems to convey his true character in the natural pose, his hat held under his arm, and in his calm air and slight smile. Born in 1737 into a family who had settled in Saint-Domingue, the Marquis de Fournier de Bellevüe died in Nantes in 1802. He was the great-grandfather of the writer Xavier de Bellevüe.

The artist’s ability is evident in the rendering of textiles, metal and flesh as well as in the precise draughtsmanship, the close attention to the model’s features, and the foreshortening of the hand. This painting is a magnificent illustration of Roslin’s talent, incorporating all the qualities that have made his reputation to this day.