Philippe de Champaigne - Royal Painter

On 26 May 1602, Philippe de Champaigne was born in a very poor family, and he moved from Brussels to Paris at the age of 19 to pursue art studies. His lucky break came as he was employed along many other young artists to decorate the Luxembourg Palace for Queen Marie de Médicis.

She noticed his talent and arranged for him to serve the royal family starting in 1628, at the age of 26... He will produce countless portraits for members of the church and royal court but most importantly for Marie’s son: King Louis XIII as well as his prime minister: Cardinal Richelieu!

Philippe de Champaigne is a great artist of his time and his time was the classic period. As always, photos can only capture so much! So when visiting the Louvre, make sure to see his portraits in the "Richelieu wing", you just might be mesmerised by the eyes of Louis XIII and Richelieu, they will take you back to the 1600's... The last sketch is the Artist’ self-portrait.