| Robert
Nanteuil (1623 - 1678)
(b Reims, 1623; d Paris, 9 Dec 1678). French engraver, draughtsman
and pastellist. He was the son of Lancelot Nanteuil, a wool merchant,
and submitted his thesis in philosophy, for which he engraved
the headpiece, at the Jesuit College of Reims, in 1645. He went
on to work in the studio of Nicolas Regnesson, whose sister he
married in 1646, before moving to Paris in 1647. His early work
mainly consisted of portrait drawings in black lead on parchment
(e.g. Paris, Louvre), and he continued to draw throughout his
career. He took 155 of his 221 portraits directly from life.
His drawing style was influenced by Philippe de Champaigne, and
he based his engraving technique on the work of Claude Mellan
and Jean Morin. By 1652 he had developed his own technique (see
ENGRAVING, §II, 4), and his engraving of Cardinal Mazarin
of that year gained him official recognition (for illustration
see MAZARIN, (1)). The size of his engravings increased, and
after 1664 he produced mainly life-size heads. In 1658 he was
appointed Dessinateur et Graveur Ordinaire du Roi.
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