Nicolas de Largillière
French painter (1656–1746)
Nicolas de Largillière (French: [nikɔla də laʁʒijiɛʁ]; baptised 10 October 1656 – 20 March 1746) was a French painter and draughtsman. From 1733 until 1735, he was director of the Académie de Peinture et de Sculpture.
Biography
Early life
Largillière was baptised at the Church of Saint-Barthélemy in Paris on 10 October 1656. The son of a merchant hatmaker, his family moved to Antwerp when Largillière was around three years old. Following a trip to London, Largillière's father apprenticed him to the Flemish painter Anton Goubau. However, he left at the age of eighteen and again went to England, where he was befriended and employed by Sir Peter Lely for four years at Windsor, Berkshire. While there, Largillière also worked under the direction of Italian painter Antonio Verrio.
Painting career
Early career
His painting caught the attention of Charles II, who wished to retain Largillière in his service, but the controversy aroused by the Rye House Plot against Roman Catholics alarmed Largillière. He left for Paris, where he was well received by the public as a painter.
Upon ascending to the throne in 1685, James II requested Largillière to return to England.
The public source identifies “Nicolas de Largillière” as french painter (1656–1746). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Nicolas, Largillière and French.
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This entry incorporates text from “Nicolas de Largillière” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.