Lot 2065 D α

This work depicts the Virgin pausing whilst reading the scriptures to gaze tenderly down at the sleeping Christ child. She is shown before an architectural background with a drawn curtain revealing a view onto a landscape on the right hand side. The calm atmosphere of the work is further accentuated by the triangular composition of the central group and the clear arrangement of the colours.
Nicolas Mignard, called Mignard d´Avignon, was the brother of Pierre Mignard. He learnt to paint in Troyes and Fontainebleau under the shadow of Fréminet and Primaticcio. In Lyon he became a protégé of Cardinal Richelieu, who financed a two year sojourn to Rome from 1635-36. He returned to Avignon in 1639, where he remained for the next two decades. The present work, painted during this period, clearly testifies to the influence of Mignard’s Italian sojourn, especially the works of Guido Reni and Francesco Albani.