Jacques de L'Estin - Self-portrait - WGA12906

Jacques de Létin, or Jacques Ninet de Lestin, or Jacques de L'Estin (1597,

Troyes Troyes () is a commune and the capital of the department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within the Champagne wine region and is near to ...

- October, 1661, Troyes) was a French painter, primarily of religious scenes. He was also trained as a

goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), pl ...

Biography

He was born to a middle-class family. His father, Jehan, ran a hotel called ''L'Image de Saint-Christophe''. He trained with the painter and goldsmith, Edme Doué (?-1626), who had married his sister, Simonne, in 1613. At the time, many young painters were attracted to the works of

Carvaggio Michelangelo Merisi (Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio (, , ; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of hi ...

. This prompted him to travel to Rome, where he lived from 1622 to 1625; sharing an apartment with the painter, Charles Mellin, and the sculptor Jacques Sarrazin.Jacques Thuillier, "Simon Vouet", in ''La Peinture Française'', 1963, pg.98. He also met and became a lifelong friend of

Simon Vouet Simon Vouet (; 9 January 1590 – 30 June 1649) was a French painter who studied and rose to prominence in Italy before being summoned by Louis XIII to serve as Premier peintre du Roi in France. He and his studio of artists created religious and m ...

. He returned to Troyes in 1626, set up a studio and got married shortly after. His workshop was very successful and the numerous commissions he received involved many long stays in Paris. He was, in fact, there for much of the period from 1633 to 1639, In 1636, he was chosen to be the " Painter of May" for

Notre-Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...

. His contribution was ''Saint Paul Preaching on the Areopagus'' (destroyed during the Franco-Prussian War). He produced secular as well as religious works. In 1645, he settled permanently in Troyes, purchased some land and built a large manor house. He appears to have painted little after that and was quickly forgotten. By the end of the 17th century, he was only cited by name in relation to Vouet. At some point, he was referred to as Ninet de Lestin, due to a typographical error, which was continued until 1882, when the local historian, , discovered it and did more research on his life. Many of his paintings were destroyed or disappeared; during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, the Franco-Prussian War and World War II, although some works have newly attributed to him; notably, personifications of Grammar and Geometry, acquired by the

Musée des beaux-arts de Bordeaux The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux is the fine arts museum of the city of Bordeaux, France. The museum is housed in a dependency of the Palais Rohan in central Bordeaux. Its collections include paintings, sculptures and drawings from the 15t ...

in 2011. A street and a school in Troyes have been named after him.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Letin, Jacques 1597 births 1661 deaths People from Troyes 17th-century French painters French male painters

Biography

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Further reading

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