Charles Le Brun – Court Painter to Louis XIV, Master Born Under a Blessed Star

Charles Le Brun, also known as Le Brun or Le Brun, was born on February 24, 1619, into a family of artists. He was the third of five children of the sculptor Nicolas Le Brun and Julien Le Bé, who came from a family of writers.

Nicolas Le Brun taught his sons, Nicolas II, Charles and Gabriel, the art of sculpting, but the boys showed more talent in matters of painting. Nicolas II was good at drawing landscapes, Gabriel – portraits and engravings, Charles… he turned out to be the most talented of them all.

Around 1632, Charles became an apprentice to the French painter, draughtsman and engraver François Perrier. At this time he made a sketch of Louis XIII on horseback, and this sketch came to Pierre Seguier, who was Chancellor of France.

Monsieur Seguier was extremely impressed by the sketch drawn by young Charles, who was still a teenager, and recommended the boy to Simon Vouet, a true master of his craft.

Simon Vouet was also impressed and took young Charles as an apprentice. Charles learned all about the Italian masters and the style of antiquity in the company of his classmates: Pierre Mignard, André Le Nôtre and Eustache Le Sueur. All four of them also became famous masters.

Cardinal Richelieu was shown the works of young Charles, and the cardinal considered them to be unusually good. Thus, from 1638, Le Brun was employed by Richelieu, who allowed him to bear the title of Peintre du Roi (Royal Painter). Not bad for a teenager.

The time of Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu was over, they both died while Charles was in Rome, and France was in the grip of a new spirit and a new air. The leading man, Cardinal Mazarin, was an avid art collector, and Charles made it his mission to impress the Cardinal. In doing so, he also won the favor of Monsieur Fouquet, who was as passionate about art as the Cardinal. Fouquet wanted a large portrait of the Regent, Anne of Austria, and Le Brun himself.

The following year, Charles Le Brun became one of the founders of the Royal Academy of Peinture and Sculpture. The purpose of this academy was to raise the level of the artists working for the French Royal Court, to give them royal approval, and also to guide them in some way to create paintings glorifying the King. In the latter, Le Brun and Colbert teamed up.

Then, after working on various projects for the crown and its nobility, Charles returned to work with Monsieur Fouquet and created a true masterpiece. Fouquet asked him to look at his small castle of Vaux-le-Vicomte, which was under construction and needed decoration. Already in 1657, Fouquet had arranged for Le Brun to receive an annual pension of 12,000 livres, and now, in 1658, Charles took charge of Fouquet’s tapestry production in Maincy to create a proper interior for the castle of Vaux.

After visiting Vaux, Cardinal Mazarin in 1660 decided to present Charles Le Brun to the King and the Court in the best possible way. Like many before him, Louis XIV was extremely impressed by the paintings created by Charles. He was also very impressed by the work done in Vaux, and although Vaux was the cobblestone on which Nicolas Fouquet tripped and fell, it was also the rise of Charles Le Brun.

During the following years, Charles Le Brun was the First Painter to the King and received a pension equal to the amount he had previously received from Fouquet. He was declared by Louis XIV to be the greatest French artist of all time and director of the Royal Manufactory Tapisseries et Meubles de la Couronne. The style created by Le Brun is known today as the Louis XIV style, and the artist also oversaw everything related to art in the royal residences.

From 1661, Le Brun was responsible for the decoration of Versailles, and had hundreds of artists, weavers and craftsmen under his command. Charles himself worked on the famous Ambassadorial Staircase at Versailles. This monumental staircase was the place where ambassadors from other countries waited to present their credentials to Louis XIV.

He worked in the salons of de la Paix and de la Guerre. At the Louvre he decorated the Galerie d’Apollon, and at Sceaux he decorated the cupola of the Pavillon de l’Aror…. but all good things must come to an end. As talented as he was, Le Brun was not immune to court intrigue and betrayal.

After Colbert’s death in 1683, the post of surintendant des Bâtiments (Superintendent of Buildings) became vacant and was given by Louis XIV to Monsieur Louvois. Colbert and Le Brun were a perfect team. Le Brun was respected and praised for his work, but Louvois had his favorite, namely Pierre Mignard. Monsieur Louvois made sure that Pierre Mignard got his share of projects to work on and left Le Brun without work, although he was still the king’s favorite.

Thus, Charles Lebrun slowly, step by step, began to withdraw from the Court and the King. He stopped appearing at Court and felt disgraced. Against the background of these experiences, he soon fell ill. This illness eventually caused his death on February 12, 1690. He was buried in the Church of Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnay in Paris.