Woman Having her Hair Styled by Nicolas Lancret, engraved by Louise-Magdeleine Horthemels

Louise-Magdeleine Horthemels, or Louise-Madeleine Hortemels, also called Magdeleine Horthemels (1686 – 2 October 1767), was a French engraver, the mother of

Charles-Nicolas Cochin Charles-Nicolas Cochin (22 February 1715 – 29 April 1790) was a French engraver, designer, writer, and art critic. To distinguish him from his father of the same name, he is variously called Charles-Nicolas Cochin le Jeune (the Younger), Cha ...

. She is also sometimes credited under her married name of Louise Madeleine Cochin or Madeleine Cochin.

Life

The

parish register A parish register in an ecclesiastical parish is a handwritten volume, normally kept in the parish church in which certain details of religious ceremonies marking major events such as baptisms (together with the dates and names of the parents), ma ...

of the parish of Saint-Benoit, Paris, shows that Louise-Magdeleine, baptized in 1686, was one of at least six children of Daniel Horthemels, a bookseller, and his wife Marie Cellier. The Horthemels family had come from

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Originally Protestants, they became followers of the Dutch

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

theologian

Cornelis Jansen Cornelius Jansen (, ; Latinized name Cornelius Jansenius; also Corneille Jansen; 28 October 1585 – 6 May 1638) was the Dutch Catholic bishop of Ypres in Flanders and the father of a theological movement known as Jansenism. Biography He wa ...

and had links with the Parisian abbey of

Port-Royal-des-Champs Port-Royal-des-Champs was an abbey of Cistercian nuns in Magny-les-Hameaux, in the Vallée de Chevreuse southwest of Paris that launched a number of culturally important institutions. History The abbey was established in 1204, but became fa ...

, the centre of

Jansenist Jansenism was an early modern theological movement within Catholicism, primarily active in the Kingdom of France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. It was declared a heresy by th ...

thought in France.Louise-Magdeleine Horthemels: Reproductive Engraver
by Elizabeth Poulson in ''Woman's Art Journal'', vol. 6, no. 2 (Autumn, 1985 – Winter, 1986), pp. 20–23 Active as a copperplate engraver by 1707, on 10 August 1713 Horthemels married another engraver,

Charles-Nicolas Cochin the Elder Charles Nicolas Cochin the Elder (29 April 1688 – 5 July 1754) was a French Line engraving, line-engraver. He was born in Paris in 1688. His father, Charles Cochin, was a painter, and Charles Nicolas followed the same profession until he was t ...

. There were several more engravers in their extended family, including Cochin's brother Frédéric and the two sisters of Horthemels, Marie-Anne-Hyacinthe (1682–1727), who was the wife of

Nicolas-Henri Tardieu Nicolas-Henri Tardieu, called the "Tardieu the elder", (18 January 1674 - 27 January 1749) was a prominent French engraver, known for his sensitive reproductions of Antoine Watteau's paintings. He was appointed ''graveur du roi'' (King's Engraver) ...

(1674–1749), an eminent engraver, a member of the Academy from 1720, and Marie-Nicole (b. 1689, died after 1745), who was married to the portrait artist

Alexis Simon Belle Alexis Simon Belle (12 January 1674 – 21 November 1734) was a French portrait painter, known for his portraits of the French and Jacobite nobility. As a portrait artist, Belle's style followed that of his master François de Troy, Hyacinthe R ...

. Louise-Magdeleine Horthemels' son Charles-Nicolas Cochin the Younger became an engraver to the court of

King Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...

, a designer, writer, and art critic. Horthemels died in Paris at her son's house on 2 October 1767.

Work

Plan of the Abbey of Port-Royal, engraving by Magdeleine Horthemels c

Horthemels was active in Paris as an engraver for nearly fifty years and produced more than sixty signed copper plates. Her first published work was a frontispiece for

Alain-René Lesage Alain-René Lesage (; 6 May 166817 November 1747; older spelling Le Sage) was a French novelist and playwright. Lesage is best known for his comic novel '' The Devil upon Two Sticks'' (1707, ''Le Diable boiteux''), his comedy ''Turcaret'' (170 ...

's novel ''Le Diable boiteux'' (1707), which she signed Magdeleine Horthemels fec. Her later work is signed variously Magd. Horthemels, L. Mag. Horthemels, M. Horthemels, Magd. Horthemels Sponsa C. Cochin, and Magdeleine Cochin. It was long believed that Louise-Magdeleine and her sisters Marie-Nicole and Marie-Anne-Hyacinthe all signed work Marie Horthemels, but a careful study has shown that the signed work of the sisters can easily be distinguished. Nevertheless, the members of the family commonly worked together on a single composition. Louise-Magdeleine Horthemels engraved paintings by

Nicolas Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for a ...

Charles Le Brun Charles Le Brun (baptised 24 February 1619 – 12 February 1690) was a French painter, physiognomist, art theorist, and a director of several art schools of his time. As court painter to Louis XIV, who declared him "the greatest French artist of ...

Antoine Coypel Antoine Coypel (11 April 16617 January 1722) was a French painter, pastellist, engraver, decorative designer and draughtsman.Michel Corneille the Younger Michel Corneille the Younger (1642, Paris – 16 August 1708, Gobelins manufactory at Paris) was a French painter, etcher and engraver. Life Corneille was born in Paris, the son of an artist, Michel Corneille the Elder of Orléans, and on this ...

Claude Vignon Claude Vignon (19 May 1593 – 10 May 1670) was a French painter, printmaker and illustrator who worked in a wide range of genres.Paola Pacht Bassani. "Vignon, Claude." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 2 November ...

, and

Nicolas Lancret Nicolas Lancret (22 January 1690 – 14 September 1743) was a French painter. Born in Paris, he was a brilliant depicter of light comedy which reflected the tastes and manners of French society during the regency of the Duke of Orleans and, late ...

, and produced illustrations for a history of the

Hôtel des Invalides The Hôtel des Invalides ( en, "house of invalids"), commonly called Les Invalides (), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as ...

and for a history of the

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...

, in collaboration with her husband Charles-Nicolas Cochin the Elder. She designed a series of twenty-three plates depicting the nuns of the abbey of Port-Royal and their everyday life. The abolition of the abbey had been ordered by a

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions, includin ...

Pope Clement XI Pope Clement XI ( la, Clemens XI; it, Clemente XI; 23 July 1649 – 19 March 1721), born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 November 1700 to his death in March 1721. Clement XI w ...

in September 1708, the remaining nuns were forcibly removed in 1709, and most of the buildings were razed to the ground in 1710, on the orders of the Conseil du Roi of

King Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...

. Horthemels completed a great plate called ''Le feu d'artifice de la place de Navone'', after Giovanni Pannini, which had been begun by her son Charles Nicolas Cochin. She also engraved portraits, such as a copper engraving of Prince James Francis Edward Stuart, after an early eighteenth-century painting by her brother-in-law

.NPG D10695 Prince James Francis Edward Stuart
after

, line engraving, early 18th century, at the web site of the National Portrait Gallery, London (accessed 14 February 2008) In the early work of Horthemels as an engraver, there is a certain rigidity of line, while architectural detail is emphasized. However, her skill lay in engraving the work of others so that their genius was revealed and her own style was suppressed. Her hand was sure, and her work shows a delicacy and clarity of touch which were much admired in her own time.

Gallery

Abbey of Port-Royal des Champs, by Louise-Magdeleine Horthemels, c. 1709" widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="3"> File:Abbey of Port-Royal, Caring for the Sick by Magdeleine Hortemels c. 1710.jpg, File:Abbey of Port-Royal, Distributing Alms to the Poor by Louise-Magdeleine Hortemels c. 1710.jpg, File:The Sisters of the Abbey of Port-Royal by Magdeleine Hortemels c. 1710.jpg, File:Abbey of Port-Royal, General View by Louise-Magdeleine Horthemels c. 1710.jpg, File:Abbey of Port-Royal, Nuns Meeting in Solitude by Magdeleine Hortemels c. 1710.jpg, File:Abbey of Port-Royal, View of the Refectory by Louise-Magdeleine Hortemels c. 1710.jpg,

References

External links

Louise Madeleine Cochin (née Horthemels) (1686–1767)
at the web site of the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horthemels, Louise-Magdeleine 1686 births 1767 deaths 18th-century engravers French engravers French women printmakers Artists from Paris 18th-century French women artists 18th-century French artists Women engravers