Portrait of Anne-Jules de Noailles is an oil on canvas painting by Hyacinthe Rigaud, from 1691. It depicts Anne Jules de Noailles, 2nd Duke of Noailles, now in the Museum of Grenoble.
History and description It seems to be the best version of the main painting of the subject, commissioned in 1691 for 188 livres, a half-length portrait painted by Rigaud in tribute to his military successes in Catalonia. It shows him in his blue sash of the Order of the Holy Spirit (presented on 31 December 1688) and with the chest decoration of a Commander of that order. A battlefield tent appears in the background.
Rigaud's birthplace of Perpignan meant that he frequently met de Noailles. In 1703 he, Jean-Batiste Colbert and Julle Hardouin-Mansart were the witnesses to the planned marriage between Rigaud and a young woman from Châtillon :« Contrat de mariage entre Rigaud et Mlle de Chastillon » du 17 mai 1703. Archives Nationales, Minutier central des notaires parisiens, étude XCV, liasse 31. Rigaud's 1716 biography states that when the painter was added to the nobility of Roussillon de Noailles (then governor general of the province) "honoured him by writing to congratulate him on his new title".
A second portrait of de Noailles was painted by Rigaud in 1693 to mark his promotion to marshal of France, valued at 122 livres and 10 sol and also a half-length. In 1694, when de Noailles became viceroy of Catalonia, Rigaud had his assistants make three replicas, one by Verly and one by Le Roy. In 1702, two large copies of the portrait were made, either by Rigaud himself or with the finishing touches by him - the first was valued at 250 livres and the second at 100 livres. These probably extended the half-length into a full-length standing portrait and one of them may now be in the Army Museum, in Paris..
In a letter from the marquise de Sévigné to her daughter Françoise-Marguerite de Sévigné, dated 10 June 1695, it was stated that de Noailles "was coming back [to sit again] to complete his portrait at Rigaud's house".
References
Bibliography (in French)