Alexandre ROSLIN (Malmö 1718 - Paris 1793) Portrait of Jean Charton (died 1793) and his wife Angélique-Catherine, née Chauchat (1759-1849) Pair of paintings Height : 73 cm Width: 59 cm Louis XVI period gilt carved wood frame both signed: Pt par le Chev. Roslin / 1781 Alexandre Röslin (1718-1793) was one of the most important portraitists of the 18th century, particularly renowned for his refined depictions of the European aristocracy. particularly renowned for his refined depictions of the European aristocracy. Born in Mälmo, Sweden, and after a decade of decade of travelling between Italy and Germany, he settled in Paris in 1752. Röslin quickly joined the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture and became one of the favourite artists of the French court. His works are distinguished by the precision of their details, the finesse of their textures, particularly in the his ability to capture the vivacity and nobility of his subjects. Our paintings represent Jean Charton (1749-1794) and his wife Angélique-Catherine Charton, née Chauchat (1759-1849). Born into a Lyon family and one of the leading silk manufacturers of his time, Jean Charton obtained the title of title of King's Manufacturer in 1776. After two centuries during which Lyon's silk manufacturers followed foreign, mainly Italian foreign, mainly Italian, fashions, they became emancipated in the 18th century, engaging in a race to innovation and constant renewal. At that time, the European centre of fashion was Paris, where all the all the major Lyonnais manufacturers had at least one representative to keep them abreast of the latest trends of the court. The Charton family profited directly from this golden age of silk, taking on most of the orders for the royal furniture repository between 1700 and 1700. orders for the royal furniture repository between 1741 and 1782. A close friend and supporter of Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette (1757-1834), Jean Charton became second in command of the National Guard in 1791. second in command of the National Guard. His loyalty to Lafayette and his repeated support for King Louis XVI during the during the revolutionary uprisings earned him the anger and hatred of the Jacobins. After Lafayette's resignation resignation from the National Guard, the fall of the monarchy in 1792 and the execution of the king in 1793, Jean Charton found himself politically exposed and was condemned to death. politically exposed and was sentenced to death by the revolutionary court (Fouquier-Tinville's indictment, Archives Nationales W 397921). He was executed on 26 June 1794 at the barrière du Trône, in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, at the age of 18. aged 45, and buried in a mass grave in Picpus cemetery, also in the 12th arrondissement. Angélique-Catherine led a long and active life, and died in 1849 at the age of ninety. she was. Along with the Marquise de Montagu, she was one of the founding members of the committee that acquired the Picpus cemetery as a place of remembrance. de Picpus as a place of remembrance. During the last decade of her life, she became president of the Société de Picpus.