Paul Fréart de Chantelou (1609-1694) was a French collector. He patronised and encouraged major artists of this era, in particular
Nicolas PoussinNicolas Poussin was a French painter in the classical style. His work predominantly features clarity, logic, and order, and favors line over color...
(1594-1665) and
Gian Lorenzo BerniniGian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian artist who worked principally in Rome during the 17th century. He was the leading sculptor of his age and also a prominent architect...
(1598-1680).
Poussin's return to Paris in 1640 would doubtless have resulted in the end of his artistic career had he not attached himself to a prestigious clientele of Parisian amateurs, among whom Chantelou was of the most influential.
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Paul Fréart de Chantelou (1609-1694) was a French collector. He patronised and encouraged major artists of this era, in particular
Nicolas PoussinNicolas Poussin was a French painter in the classical style. His work predominantly features clarity, logic, and order, and favors line over color...
(1594-1665) and
Gian Lorenzo BerniniGian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian artist who worked principally in Rome during the 17th century. He was the leading sculptor of his age and also a prominent architect...
(1598-1680).
Chantelou and PoussinNicolas Poussin was a French painter in the classical style. His work predominantly features clarity, logic, and order, and favors line over color...
Poussin's return to Paris in 1640 would doubtless have resulted in the end of his artistic career had he not attached himself to a prestigious clientele of Parisian amateurs, among whom Chantelou was of the most influential. The two men had a long correspondence which even today provides a rich source of details on the artist's life and his artistic conception.
Among Chantelou's commissions from Poussin after his time in Paris is his "Seven Sacraments" (1644-1648), once in the collection of the duke of Sutherland and now in the store of the
National Gallery of ScotlandThe National Gallery of Scotland, in Edinburgh, is the national art gallery of Scotland. An elaborate neoclassical edifice, it stands on The Mound, between the two sections of Edinburgh's Princes Street Gardens...
, and the famous
Self-portrait (1650), now in the musée du Louvre.
Chantelou and BerniniGian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian artist who worked principally in Rome during the 17th century. He was the leading sculptor of his age and also a prominent architect...
In 1665,
Louis XIVLouis XIV , popularly known as the Sun King , was King of France and of Navarre His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days, and is the longest documented reign of any European monarch.Louis began personally governing France after the death...
, through his intermediary and minister
ColbertJean-Baptiste Colbert served as the French minister of finance from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. He was described by Mme de Sévigné as "Le Nord", because he was cold and unemotional. His relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister...
, summoned Bernini to Paris to take part in the rebuilding of the Louvre. The king designated Chantelou to welcome him and accompany him during his stay in Paris. Chantelou kept a precise day-to-day
Journal of this meeting - from Bernini's arrival in Paris at the start of June, to his departure five months later - survives to this day. Intended for his brother (who lived in the provinces at the time and unable to meet the sculptor in person), this
Journal has become a source of the first importance for history and art history. It not only tells of the artist's personality and the conception of his art, but also of everday court life - this confrontation between the king of France and the most renowned Italian artist of his time reveals the king's political clout.