1602 -1674 · Brussels, Paris, court of Louis XIII and Port-Royal

Portraits of a sovereign presence, sculptural draperies and austere devotion make Philippe de Champaigne a 17th century French master.

Philippe de Champaigne was born in Brussels in 1602 and died in Paris in 1674. Trained in the former Netherlands, he arrived in Paris in 1621 and soon worked on the sets of the Luxembourg Palace for Marie de Medici. His career developed at the court of Louis XIII and to Cardinal Richelieu, whose official image he fixed with majestic sobriety. His style unites Flemish realism, rigorous French composition and draperies including monumentality recalls ancient sculpture. Founder of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1648, Champaigne was also a prolific painter of altarpieces and biblical subjects. From the 1640s, its links with Port-Royal and the jansenism reinforces the austerity of his religious painting. The Adoration of the Magi concentrates light, offering and meditation around the Child. The Angel of the Annunciation isolates the messenger in a clear movement, while the different versions of the Annunciation show how he adapts the same mystery to the destination and format. In his portraits as in his devotional works, the economy of the decor increases the truth of the faces and the strength of the gestures. His art achieves a rare balance between political authority, psychological precision and inner spirituality. The "Philippe de Champaigne" selection notably compares The Adoration of the Magi and The Angel of the Annunciation. His reading favors light.

Champaigne removes everything that distracts: the precision of the face, the weight of the drapery and the clarity of the gesture are enough to produce authority and contemplation.