Alexis Simon Belle
Encyclopedia
Alexis Simon Belle was a French
portrait painter
, known for his portraits of the French and Jacobite
nobility
.
, the second child and only son of Jean-Baptiste Belle (born before 1642, died 1703), also a painter, and of Anne his wife (died 1705).
Belle's birth and baptism
are recorded in the parish register
of the church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris, and quoted in Eugène Piot's Le Cabinet de l'amateur for the years 1861 and 1862:
Belle studied first under his father, then continued his training in the studio of François de Troy
(1645/46-1730), a painter at the court of King James II
in exile at Saint-Germain-en-Laye
. He began to produce work at Saint-Germain in the years 1698 to 1701. This was a period of peace between France and Great Britain, and Jacobites
could cross the English Channel
carrying portraits of James Edward Stuart
(who at his father's death in 1701 became the Jacobite claimant to the British throne) and his sister Princess Louisa Maria
. Troy was then James II's only court painter and needed the help of Belle, his best student, to produce all the portraits ordered from him.
In August 1700, Belle won the Prix de Rome
, but went on working at Saint-Germain instead of travelling to Italy.
On 12 November 1701, Belle married the miniature painter Anne Chéron (c.1663–1718), when he was described as peintre ordinaire du Roy d'Angleterre (painter in ordinary to the King of England). As King James II had died a few weeks before, this was a reference to his son James Edward, who had been proclaimed king of England, Scotland and Ireland by King Louis XIV
.
Belle became the principal painter to the Jacobite court, where he and his wife settled and worked. After war broke out again between Great Britain and France in 1702, their portraits of James Edward Stuart ('The Old Pretender') and his sister the Princess Royal continued to be smuggled across the Channel, and Belle did other work for members of the court and for the English Augustinian convent in Paris
. Several copies exist of his portrait of James Edward Stuart in armour and standing beside the English Channel, on which there are warships, pointing towards the cliffs of Dover.
Belle's most famous portrait of James Edward Stuart dates from 1712, just before he left Saint Germain for Lorraine, and shows him in a tent in a military outfit. This became the standard image of the Old Pretender and was much copied. In an engraving of the painting by François Chéreau, Belle is described as peintre de S. M. Brit. (painter to His Britannic Majesty). In 1713, Chéreau also engraved a portrait by Belle of Princess Louisa Maria (who had died in 1712) which is now in Sizergh Castle, Cumbria
.
After the Pretender had left Saint Germain, Belle stayed there and painted some of the diplomats connected with the Treaty of Utrecht
. However, in 1714 he joined James Edward's new court at Bar-le-Duc
.
During the years 1716 to 1719, Belle received many commissions from Jacobites in exile after the unsuccessful rising of 1715
. By then, the Old Pretender was himself living in Italy.
During the 1720s, Belle's work was increasingly for the French nobility. He painted the young King Louis XV
, and much of his work was engraved, showing that he had by then a high status in France. He painted Louis XV's one time finacée Mariana Victoria of Spain
who he later did not marry; he worked also for Jacobites in France, and as late as 1724 signed a portrait of Marie-Charlotte Sobieska (James Edward Stuart's sister-in-law) pictor regis Britann. (painter to the king of Britain). In 1731, Belle made two copies of portraits by David of James Edward Stuart's two young sons, Prince Charles Edward Stuart
and Prince Henry Benedict Stuart
.
Belle's first wife, Anne Chéron, died in April 1718. On 12 January 1722 he married as his second wife the engraver Marie-Nicolle Horthemels (born 1689, died after 1745), herself a painter and engraver. Together, they had two sons, born in 1722 and 1726, and a daughter born in 1730. With his new wife, Belle lived both among the remaining Jacobites at Saint Germain, where he owned property, and in Paris in the rue du Four.
His second wife's sister Louise-Magdeleine Horthemels
(1686–1767) was an important engraver in Paris for some fifty years and was the mother of the designer
, engraver, and art critic
Charles-Nicolas Cochin
(1715–1790). Another of his wife's sisters, Marie-Anne-Hyacinthe Horthemels (1682–1727), worked in the same field and was the wife of Nicolas-Henri Tardieu (1674–1749), an engraver who was a member of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture
. The Horthemels family, originally from The Netherlands, were followers of the Dutch theologian Cornelis Jansen and had links with the Parisian abbey of Port-Royal des Champs, the centre of Jansenist thought in France.
Belle and his wife Marie-Nicole were the parents of Clément-Louis-Marie-Anne Belle (1722–1806), a French painter and tapestry designer. The parish register of Saint Sulpice goes into considerable detail about Clément-Louis's baptism:
Those named are evidently the Jacobite
peer William Maxwell, 5th Earl of Nithsdale
(c. 1682-1744), his wife Winifred Herbert
(c. 1690-1749), who had arranged her husband's escape from the Tower of London
in 1716, and their daughter Lady Anne Maxwell (1716–1735). Remarkably, the godmother was only six years old. 'Herbet de Ponis' is an error, as Winifred Herbert was the daughter of Lord Powis
.
As a portrait artist, Belle's style followed that of his master François de Troy, Hyacinthe Rigaud
, and Nicolas de Largillière
. He was the master of the painter Jacques-André-Joseph-Camelot Aved
(1702–1766).
When Belle died in 1734, he was described as "painter to the king in his Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, comptroller of clergy stipends and comptroller of poultry", so his royal connections had evidently led to offices of profit under the crown.
Belle's son Clément-Louis became a history painter. When he died in 1806, he was described as "Rector of the Special School of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture and Engraving, and Professor of Design to the Imperial Manufactury of Gobelins
".
Belle was primarily a portrait artist
. His work includes:
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
portrait painter
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
, known for his portraits of the French and Jacobite
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
nobility
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
.
Birth
Belle was born in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, the second child and only son of Jean-Baptiste Belle (born before 1642, died 1703), also a painter, and of Anne his wife (died 1705).
Belle's birth and baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
are recorded in the parish register
Parish register
A parish register is a handwritten volume, normally kept in a parish church or deposited within a county record office or alternative archive repository, in which details of baptisms, marriages and burials are recorded.-History:...
of the church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris, and quoted in Eugène Piot's Le Cabinet de l'amateur for the years 1861 and 1862:
Life and family
François de Troy
François de Troy was a French painter and engraver who became principal painter to King James II in exile at Saint-Germain-en-Laye and Director of the Académie Royale de peinture et de sculpture.-Early life:...
(1645/46-1730), a painter at the court of King James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
in exile at Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris from the centre.Inhabitants are called Saint-Germanois...
. He began to produce work at Saint-Germain in the years 1698 to 1701. This was a period of peace between France and Great Britain, and Jacobites
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
could cross the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
carrying portraits of James Edward Stuart
James Francis Edward Stuart
James Francis Edward, Prince of Wales was the son of the deposed James II of England...
(who at his father's death in 1701 became the Jacobite claimant to the British throne) and his sister Princess Louisa Maria
Louisa Maria Teresa Stuart
Louisa Maria Teresa Stuart , known to Jacobites as The Princess Royal, was the last child of James II and VII , the deposed king of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of his queen, Mary of Modena...
. Troy was then James II's only court painter and needed the help of Belle, his best student, to produce all the portraits ordered from him.
In August 1700, Belle won the Prix de Rome
Prix de Rome
The Prix de Rome was a scholarship for arts students, principally of painting, sculpture, and architecture. It was created, initially for painters and sculptors, in 1663 in France during the reign of Louis XIV. It was an annual bursary for promising artists having proved their talents by...
, but went on working at Saint-Germain instead of travelling to Italy.
On 12 November 1701, Belle married the miniature painter Anne Chéron (c.1663–1718), when he was described as peintre ordinaire du Roy d'Angleterre (painter in ordinary to the King of England). As King James II had died a few weeks before, this was a reference to his son James Edward, who had been proclaimed king of England, Scotland and Ireland by King Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
.
Belle became the principal painter to the Jacobite court, where he and his wife settled and worked. After war broke out again between Great Britain and France in 1702, their portraits of James Edward Stuart ('The Old Pretender') and his sister the Princess Royal continued to be smuggled across the Channel, and Belle did other work for members of the court and for the English Augustinian convent in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Several copies exist of his portrait of James Edward Stuart in armour and standing beside the English Channel, on which there are warships, pointing towards the cliffs of Dover.
Belle's most famous portrait of James Edward Stuart dates from 1712, just before he left Saint Germain for Lorraine, and shows him in a tent in a military outfit. This became the standard image of the Old Pretender and was much copied. In an engraving of the painting by François Chéreau, Belle is described as peintre de S. M. Brit. (painter to His Britannic Majesty). In 1713, Chéreau also engraved a portrait by Belle of Princess Louisa Maria (who had died in 1712) which is now in Sizergh Castle, Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
.
After the Pretender had left Saint Germain, Belle stayed there and painted some of the diplomats connected with the Treaty of Utrecht
Treaty of Utrecht
The Treaty of Utrecht, which established the Peace of Utrecht, comprises a series of individual peace treaties, rather than a single document, signed by the belligerents in the War of Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht in March and April 1713...
. However, in 1714 he joined James Edward's new court at Bar-le-Duc
Bar-le-Duc
Bar-le-Duc, formerly known as Bar, is a commune in the Meuse département, of which it is the préfecture . The department is in Lorraine in north-eastern France-Geography:...
.
During the years 1716 to 1719, Belle received many commissions from Jacobites in exile after the unsuccessful rising of 1715
Jacobite rising
The Jacobite Risings were a series of uprisings, rebellions, and wars in Great Britain and Ireland occurring between 1688 and 1746. The uprisings were aimed at returning James VII of Scotland and II of England, and later his descendants of the House of Stuart, to the throne after he was deposed by...
. By then, the Old Pretender was himself living in Italy.
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
, and much of his work was engraved, showing that he had by then a high status in France. He painted Louis XV's one time finacée Mariana Victoria of Spain
Mariana Victoria of Spain
Mariana Victoria of Spain was an Infanta of Spain and Queen consort of Portugal as wife of King Joseph I. The mother of Queen Maria I of Portugal, she also acted as Regent of Portugal during the last months of her husband's life and advisor to her daughter during her reign.-Background:Mariana...
who he later did not marry; he worked also for Jacobites in France, and as late as 1724 signed a portrait of Marie-Charlotte Sobieska (James Edward Stuart's sister-in-law) pictor regis Britann. (painter to the king of Britain). In 1731, Belle made two copies of portraits by David of James Edward Stuart's two young sons, Prince Charles Edward Stuart
Charles Edward Stuart
Prince Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or The Young Pretender was the second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of Great Britain , and Ireland...
and Prince Henry Benedict Stuart
Henry Benedict Stuart
Henry Benedict Stuart was a Roman Catholic Cardinal, as well as the fourth and final Jacobite heir to publicly claim the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Unlike his father, James Francis Edward Stuart, and brother, Charles Edward Stuart, Henry made no effort to seize the throne...
.
Belle's first wife, Anne Chéron, died in April 1718. On 12 January 1722 he married as his second wife the engraver Marie-Nicolle Horthemels (born 1689, died after 1745), herself a painter and engraver. Together, they had two sons, born in 1722 and 1726, and a daughter born in 1730. With his new wife, Belle lived both among the remaining Jacobites at Saint Germain, where he owned property, and in Paris in the rue du Four.
His second wife's sister Louise-Magdeleine Horthemels
Louise-Magdeleine Horthemels
Louise-Magdeleine Horthemels, or Louise-Madeleine Hortemels, also called Magdeleine Horthemels , was a French engraver, the mother of Charles-Nicolas Cochin...
(1686–1767) was an important engraver in Paris for some fifty years and was the mother of the designer
Designer
A designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a...
, engraver, and art critic
Art critic
An art critic is a person who specializes in evaluating art. Their written critiques, or reviews, are published in newspapers, magazines, books and on web sites...
Charles-Nicolas Cochin
Charles-Nicolas Cochin
Charles-Nicolas Cochin was a French engraver, designer, writer, and art critic. To distinguish him from his father of the same name, he is variously called Charles-Nicolas Cochin le Jeune , Charles-Nicolas Cochin le fils , or Charles-Nicolas Cochin II.-Early life:Cochin was born in Paris, the son of...
(1715–1790). Another of his wife's sisters, Marie-Anne-Hyacinthe Horthemels (1682–1727), worked in the same field and was the wife of Nicolas-Henri Tardieu (1674–1749), an engraver who was a member of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture
Académie de peinture et de sculpture
The Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture , Paris, was founded in 1648, modelled on Italian examples, such as the Accademia di San Luca in Rome. Paris already had the Académie de Saint-Luc, which was a city artist guild like any other Guild of Saint Luke...
. The Horthemels family, originally from The Netherlands, were followers of the Dutch theologian Cornelis Jansen and had links with the Parisian abbey of Port-Royal des Champs, the centre of Jansenist thought in France.
Belle and his wife Marie-Nicole were the parents of Clément-Louis-Marie-Anne Belle (1722–1806), a French painter and tapestry designer. The parish register of Saint Sulpice goes into considerable detail about Clément-Louis's baptism:
Those named are evidently the Jacobite
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
peer William Maxwell, 5th Earl of Nithsdale
William Maxwell, 5th Earl of Nithsdale
William Maxwell, 5th Earl of Nithsdale was a Catholic nobleman, who took part in the Jacobite Rising of 1715.He was the eldest son of Robert, fourth Earl of Nithsdale , and Lady Lucie Douglas , daughter of William, eleventh earl of Angus and first Marquess of Douglas. He was probably born at...
(c. 1682-1744), his wife Winifred Herbert
Winifred Herbert
Winifred Maxwell, Countess of Nithsdale , formerly Lady Winifred Herbert, is best known for arranging the daring escape of her husband from the Tower of London in 1716....
(c. 1690-1749), who had arranged her husband's escape from the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
in 1716, and their daughter Lady Anne Maxwell (1716–1735). Remarkably, the godmother was only six years old. 'Herbet de Ponis' is an error, as Winifred Herbert was the daughter of Lord Powis
William Herbert, 1st Marquess of Powis
William Herbert, 1st Marquess of Powis, PC was an English nobleman.He succeeded his father, the 2nd Baron Powis, as 3rd Baron Powis in 1667, and was created Earl of Powis in 1674 by King Charles II and Viscount Montgomery, of the Town of Montgomery, and Marquess of Powis in 1687 by King James II,...
.
As a portrait artist, Belle's style followed that of his master François de Troy, Hyacinthe Rigaud
Hyacinthe Rigaud
Hyacinthe Rigaud was a French baroque painter of Catalan origin whose career was based in Paris.He is renowned for his portrait paintings of Louis XIV, the royalty and nobility of Europe, and members of their courts and considered one of the most notable French portraitists of the classical period...
, and Nicolas de Largillière
Nicolas de Largillière
Nicolas de Largillière was a painter born in Paris, France.-Early life:Largillière's father, a merchant, took him to Antwerp at the age of three. As a boy, he spent nearly two years in London. Sometime after his return to Antwerp, a failed attempt at business led him to the studio of Goubeau...
. He was the master of the painter Jacques-André-Joseph-Camelot Aved
Joseph Aved
Jacques-André-Joseph Aved , also called le Camelot and Avet le Batave , was a French painter of the 18th century and one of the main French Rococo portraitists. He painted the Ottoman Empire ambassador to France in 1742, Mehmed Said Efendi.-Biography:His father was a physician and he was orphaned...
(1702–1766).
When Belle died in 1734, he was described as "painter to the king in his Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, comptroller of clergy stipends and comptroller of poultry", so his royal connections had evidently led to offices of profit under the crown.
Belle's son Clément-Louis became a history painter. When he died in 1806, he was described as "Rector of the Special School of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture and Engraving, and Professor of Design to the Imperial Manufactury of Gobelins
Gobelins manufactory
The Manufacture des Gobelins is a tapestry factory located in Paris, France, at 42 avenue des Gobelins, near the Les Gobelins métro station in the XIIIe arrondissement...
".
Work
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
. His work includes:
- Allegorical portrait of Prince James Francis Edward StuartJames Francis Edward StuartJames Francis Edward, Prince of Wales was the son of the deposed James II of England...
and his sister Princess Louisa Maria Theresa, showing the prince as a guardian angel leading his sister under the gaze of cherubim (1699), now in the Royal CollectionRoyal CollectionThe Royal Collection is the art collection of the British Royal Family. It is property of the monarch as sovereign, but is held in trust for her successors and the nation. It contains over 7,000 paintings, 40,000 watercolours and drawings, and about 150,000 old master prints, as well as historical... - Queen Mary of ModenaMary of ModenaMary of Modena was Queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland as the second wife of King James II and VII. A devout Catholic, Mary became, in 1673, the second wife of James, Duke of York, who later succeeded his older brother Charles II as King James II...
, c. 1699, now at Sizergh Castle, CumbriaCumbriaCumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
. - Princess Louisa Maria Theresa Stuart, 1704
- Prince James Francis Edward Stuart, c.1700-1705 (attributed)
- James Francis Edward StuartJames Francis Edward StuartJames Francis Edward, Prince of Wales was the son of the deposed James II of England...
, showing the Prince in armour and standing beside the English Channel, on which there are several warships, pointing towards the cliffs of Dover, attended by a page in Polish costume (1703, now in the Collège des Ecossais, Paris) - Henry St John, 1st Viscount BolingbrokeHenry St John, 1st Viscount BolingbrokeHenry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke was an English politician, government official and political philosopher. He was a leader of the Tories, and supported the Church of England politically despite his atheism. In 1715 he supported the Jacobite rebellion of 1715 which sought to overthrow the...
, about 1712 - James Francis Edward Stuart, 1712
- James Francis Edward Stuart in the robes of a knight of the Garter, c. 1714, portrait now lost but known through an engraving by Marie-Nicolle Horthemels
- Elisabeth-Charlotte and her son, double portrait of Élisabeth Charlotte of OrléansÉlisabeth Charlotte of OrléansÉlisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans was a French petite-fille de France and by marriage to Leopold, Duke of Lorraine, duchess and later regent of Lorraine and Bar. She was also suo jure Princess of Commercy...
and Francis I, Holy Roman EmperorFrancis I, Holy Roman EmperorFrancis I was Holy Roman Emperor and Grand Duke of Tuscany, though his wife effectively executed the real power of those positions. With his wife, Maria Theresa, he was the founder of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty...
, dated 1722, now at the Château de Lunéville - John LawJohn Law (economist)John Law was a Scottish economist who believed that money was only a means of exchange that did not constitute wealth in itself and that national wealth depended on trade...
, between 1715 and 1720 (attributed) - Louis François I de Bourbon, prince de ContiLouis François I de Bourbon, prince de ContiLouis François de Bourbon, Prince of Conti was a French nobleman, who was the Prince of Conti from 1727 to his death, following his father Louis Armand II. His mother was Louise Élisabeth de Bourbon, a natural granddaughter of Louis XIV...
- François de TroyFrançois de TroyFrançois de Troy was a French painter and engraver who became principal painter to King James II in exile at Saint-Germain-en-Laye and Director of the Académie Royale de peinture et de sculpture.-Early life:...
(1645–1730), oil on canvas, first quarter of 18th century, in the Musée national du château et des Trianons at the Palace of Versailles - Antoine Crozat, marquis du Chatel (1655–1738), oil on canvas, first quarter of 18th century, in the Musée national du château et des Trianons at the Palace of VersaillesPalace of VersaillesThe Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
(attributed) - Alexis Simon Belle, self portrait, oil on canvas, first quarter of 18th century, in the Musée national du château et des Trianons at the Palace of Versailles
- Marie-Charlotte Sobieska, sister-in-law of James Francis Edward Stuart, 1724
- Charles Gabriel de Belsunce, marquis de Castelmoron, Lieutenant Général (1681–1739), oil on canvas, first half of 18th century, in the Musée national du château et des Trianons at the Palace of Versailles
Death
Belle died at Paris in 1734. His funeral is again recorded in some detail in the parish register of the church of Saint-Sulpice, as quoted in Eugène Piot's Le Cabinet de l'amateur. This states that Belle was buried on 22 November 1734. Apart from describing him as painter to the king in the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, comptroller of clergy stipends and of poultry, the register entry says that Belle was the husband of Marie-Nicole Hortemels and had died at his house in the rue du Four on the previous day, 21 November. His age is given as "about 60 years, 10 months, 8 days", and it is also recorded that the funeral was attended by Clément Louis Marie Anne Belle and "N. Belle, privately baptized, aged 7 years", sons, and by "Fréderic-Eustache-Auguste Hortemels, copperplate engraver, Denis Hortemels, bookseller, Nicolas Tardien and Charles-Nicolas Cochin, engravers to the king, both brothers-in law to the deceased".External links
- Alexis Simon Belle at the Royal Collection
- Alexis Simon Belle at Joconde
- Alexis Simon Belle at the National Portrait Gallery, London
- Alexis Simon Belle at the Web Gallery of Art