Nicolas LAGNEAU (circa 1590 - circa 1660) Portrait of a man Black stone and red chalk Inscribed 'Du monstier' lower right on the mount Portrait of a man, black and red chalk, by N. Lagneau 12.99 x 9.64 in. 33 x 24.5 cm All we know of Lagneau are portraits and trognes, but no prince, duke or king: a litany of anonymous people. No paintings, no commissions, but he appears to have been his own patron, giving him complete freedom to sketch his portraits and choose his models. His name is open to question. Is it a nickname? Is it Laneau? Lanneau? Lagneau? He was often called Nicolas, but there are no documents from this period giving a first name, just an initial "N" in an old catalogue. He seems to have been born at the end of the 16th century and to have died at the beginning of the reign of Louis XIV. For a long time, there were several hands under the same name, but although there were copyists and imitators, there was only one Lagneau. His sanguine and black pencil strokes emphasise the wrinkles on the forehead, the contours of the eyes and the bridge of the nose. He liked to accentuate the imperfections of his models, rather than soften them, as a Clouet or a Dumonstier would do. Nicolas LAGNEAU (circa 1590 - circa 1660) 33 x 24.5 cm We only know portraits and trognes of Lagneau, but no prince, duke or king: a litany of anonymous people. No paintings, no commissions, but he appears to have been his own patron, giving him complete freedom to sketch his portraits and choose his models. His name is open to question. Is it a nickname? Is it Laneau? Lanneau? Lagneau? He was often called Nicolas, but there are no documents from this period giving a first name, just an initial "N" in an old catalogue. He seems to have been born at the end of the 16th century and to have died at the beginning of the reign of Louis XIV. For a long time, there were several hands under the same name, but although there were copyists and imitators, there was only one Lagneau. His sanguine and black pencil strokes emphasise the wrinkles on the forehead, the contours of the eyes and the bridge of the nose. He liked to accentuate the imperfections of his models, rather than soften them, as a Clouet or a Dumonstier would do.