17th-19th century French school Suite of twenty portraits of members of the Cossé-Brissac family from the 16th and 17th centuries Series of twelve oval portraits presented in pairs, gouaches on vellum Series of four oval portraits, gouache on vellum Series of four oval portraits presented in pairs, oils on cardboard Approx. 7 x 12.5 cm (each, medium and on view) Portraits of some members of the Cossé-Brissac family from the 16th and 17th C., set of twenty miniatures, French School, 17th-19th C. Provenance: Anonymous sale; Paris, Hôtel Drouot, Mes Libert et Castor, 6 February 2002, no. 27; Acquired at this sale by the current owners These portraits represent various members of the Cossé-Brissac family. According to Camille Philippe Dayre de Mailhol, in his Dictionnaire de la noblesse française published in 1896, the town, land and seigneury of Brissac, in Anjou, passed into the house of Cossé at the end of the 16th century. It was King Charles IX who made this seigneury a county in 1560. Among the family's great feats of arms are those of Artus de Cossé. A knight and the king's first panetier, he distinguished himself at the siege of Sens in 1551 and was then appointed governor of Metz, a city he defended under the Duke of Guise against the forces of Charles V. His brother Charles de Cossé, Comte de Brissac, was an intrepid soldier who distinguished himself at the Siege of Naples in 1528. It is said that he defended himself without helmet or breastplate against a Spanish cavalryman, taking him prisoner armed only with his sword. The family's coat of arms is Sable, three fesses Or, in the lower part enarched. Some of the portraits depicted are also known from engravings, such as that of Artus de Cossé1, Marshal of France, wearing the mantle and insignia of the Order of the Holy Spirit, or that of Charles II de Cossé in armour. 1. For Artus de Cossé, we refer to the copy in the British Museum (inv. no. 1879,0510.243) which served as an illustration for a work by Dreux du Radier, L'Europe illustre, Paris, Odieuvre & Breton, 1755-1756. It features the portrait of Artus de Cossé as a counterpart to our own. The portrait of Charles II also appears in this work. French school of the 17th-19th century