Claude Charles painter and herald of Lorraine

Claude Charles (6 January 1661, Nancy – 4 June 1747, Nancy) was a French historical and decorative painter. He also served as a Herald-at-Arms.

Life and work

He was the son of Jean Charles, an attorney for the local

bailiwick A bailiwick () is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and once also applied to territories in which a privately appointed bailiff exercised the sheriff's functions under a royal or imperial writ. The bailiwick is probably modelled on th ...

and a

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is disti ...

. His first art lessons were in Épinal with Jean-George Gérard (1642-1690); a painter of religious scenes. At the age of only sixteen, he went to Rome. There, he spent nine years working with

Giovanni Maria Morandi Giovanni Maria Morandi (30 April 1622 – 18 February 1717) was an Italian painter, mainly active in Rome and his natal city of Florence, but also Venice. He is said to have briefly trained in Florence with Sigismondo Coccapani and Giovann ...

and

Carlo Maratta Carlo Maratta or Maratti (13 May 162515 December 1713) was an Italian painter, active mostly in Rome, and known principally for his classicizing paintings executed in a Late Baroque Classical manner. Although he is part of the classical tradition ...

, as well as several other artists.Biographical notes from the ''Histoire Lorraine''
@ the Lorraine Café (scroll down). Later, he spent a short time in Paris, copying the works of Poussin at the gallery owned by

Paul Fréart de Chantelou Paul Fréart de Chantelou (25 March 1609 – 1694) was a French collector and patron of the arts. He encouraged major artists of his era, in particular Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665) and Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680), and is known for his dia ...

. He returned to Nancy in 1688. Two years later, he married Anne Racle, from a family of goldsmiths and engravers. In 1702, he was named the first Director of the

Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture The Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture (; en, "Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture") was founded in 1648 in Paris, France. It was the premier art institution of France during the latter part of the Ancien Régime until it was abol ...

in Nancy. The following year, he became the Herald and

court painter A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or princely family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Painters were the most common, but the cour ...

Leopold, Duke of Lorraine Leopold the Good (11 September 1679 – 27 March 1729) was Duke of Lorraine and Bar from 1690 to his death. Through his son Francis Stephen, he is the direct male ancestor of all rulers of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty, including all Emperors of ...

. His notable students included

Jean-Charles François Jean-Charles François (4 May 1717 – 22 March 1769) was a French engraver. François was born at Nancy, France, Nancy. He was among the pioneers of the so-called "" ("crayon manner") of printmaking, which simulated the appearance of crayon an ...

Jean Girardet Jean Girardet (1709, Lunéville–28 September 1778, Nancy, France, Nancy) was a French portrait and mural painter. Biography Before becoming a painter he was, successively, a seminarian, a law student, and a cavalry officer. After settling ...

; and . He practiced a mixture of

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

and traditional art and often collaborated on the designs of his larger works. Several theatrical sets, for example, were designed with the Galli da Bibiena family; acquaintances from his time in Rome. Twenty-seven of his works are classified as historical monuments.Works by Claude Charles
@ the Ministère de la Culture

Selected works

Claude Charles (1661-1747) - Saint Sigisbert servant les pauvres à table.JPG, Saint Sigebert
Serving the Poor,

Nancy Cathedral Nancy Cathedral (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l’Annonciation et Saint-Sigisbert; ''Cathedral of Our Lady of the Annunciation and St. Sigisbert'') is a Roman Catholic church building, church located in the town of Nancy, France, Nancy, Lorrai ...

File:La règle 0121.JPG,

Saint Benedict Benedict of Nursia ( la, Benedictus Nursiae; it, Benedetto da Norcia; 2 March AD 480 – 21 March AD 548) was an Christianity in Italy, Italian Christian monk, writer, and theologian who is venerated in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Ortho ...

Conversing with His Sister,

Saint Scholastica Scholastica (c. 480 – 10 February 543) is a saint of the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Anglican Communion. She was born in Italy. According to a ninth century tradition, she was the twin sister of Benedict of Nursia. ...

Abbaye Saint-Pierre d'Hautvillers Hautvillers Abbey, or more formally the Abbey of St Peter, Hautvillers (french: Abbaye Saint-Pierre d'Hautvillers), is a former Benedictine monastery in the Hautvillers commune of the Marne department in north-eastern France. The abbey remained ...

Le paralitique 0130.JPG, Saint Peter Healing the Paralytic,
Abbaye Saint-Pierre d'Hautvillers, Choeur 01865 Pierre.jpg, Saint Peter,

Toul Cathedral Toul Cathedral (''Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Toul'') is a Roman Catholic church in Toul, Lorraine, France. It is a classic example of late Gothic architecture in the Flamboyant style. The cathedral has one of the biggest cloisters in France. Th ...

References

External links

* Michael Bryan, « CHARLES, Claude » in ''Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers'', Robert Edmund Graves and Sir Walter Armstrong, 1886–1889, p.265
Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charles, Claude 1661 births 1747 deaths Artists from Nancy, France 17th-century French painters French male painters 18th-century French painters 18th-century French male artists