Laurent de La Hyre

Laurent de La Hyre
Born	(1606-02-27)27 February 1606 Paris,Kingdom of France(nowFrance)
Died	28 December 1656(1656-12-28)(aged 50) Paris
Nationality	French
Known for	Painting
Movement	Classicism Baroque

Laurent de La Hyre(French pronunciation:[loʁɑ̃dəlaiʁ];27 February 1606 – 28 December 1656) was a FrenchBaroquepainter,born inParis.He was a leading exponent of the neoclassical style ofParisian Atticism.

Life

Job Restored to Prosperity

La Hyre was greatly influenced by the work of Italian artists who came to Paris. He became a pupil ofGeorges Lallemandand studied the works ofPrimaticcioatFontainebleau,but never visitedItaly.La Hyre's captivating use of color and delicately posed figures are a trademark of his early, painteresque style. He was an innovative artist who used his superior skills as a storyteller to portray rarely depicted subjects. La Hyre is associated with the transitional period before the introduction of the FrenchBaroquebySimon Vouet.

His picture ofPope Nicholas Vopening thecryptin which he discovers the corpse ofSt. Francis of Assisistanding (located at theLouvre) was executed in 1630 for theCapuchin friarsof theMarais;its gravity and sobriety seems to have been influential for the next generation of French painters, particularlyEustache Le Sueur.The Louvre contains eight other works, and paintings by La Hyre are in the museums ofStrasburg,RouenandLe Mans.

Saint Paul Shipwrecked on Malta

His drawings, of which theBritish Museumpossesses a fine example,Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple,are treated as seriously as his paintings, and sometimes show simplicity and dignity of effect. The example of the Capuchins, for whom he executed several other works inParis,Rouen and Fécamp, was followed by the goldsmith's company, for whom he produced in 1635St. Peter healing the Sick(Louvre) and theConversion of St Paulin 1637.

In 1648, La Hyre was one of the founders of theFrench Royal Academy of Painting and Sculptureand was elected as one of the original twelve elders in charge of its running.

Richelieucalled La Hyre to the Palais Royal;Pierre Séguier,Gédéon Tallemant des Réauxand many others entrusted him with important works of decoration; for the Gobelins he designed a series of large compositions. La Hyre painted also a great number of portraits, and in 1654 united in one work for the town-hall of Paris those of the principal dignitaries of the municipality.His students includedFrançois Chauveau.

Works by Laurent de La Hyre

• Mythological and other themes
• 
  Theseus and Aethra
• 
  The Rape of Europa
• 
  Regency of Anne of Austria
• 
  Cyrus Announcing to Araspas that Panthea Has Obtained His Pardon
• 
  CorneliaRefuses The Crown of The Ptolomai(1646)
• 
  Hercules and Omphale(1626)

• Seven Liberal Arts
• 
  Allegory of Astronomy(1649)
• 
  Allegory of Geometry(1649)
• 
  Allegory of Music(1649)
• 
  Allegory of Arithmetic(1650)
• 
  Allegory of Dialectic (1650)
• 
  Allegory of Grammar(1650)
• 
  Allegory of Rhetoric(1650)

• Biblical themes
• 
  Christ in Emmaus
• 
  Abraham Sacrificing Isaac
• 
  Laban Searching Jacob's Baggage for the Stolen Idols
• 
  Jesus Appearing to the Three Marys

Sources

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Lahire, Laurent de".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 80.

Birmingham Museum of Art(2010).Birmingham Museum of Art Guide to the Catalog.London: Giles. 9781904832775.

External links

• Media related toLaurent de La Hyreat Wikimedia Commons
• Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi,a fully digitized exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries, which contains material on Laurent de La Hyre (see index)
• A Caravaggio Rediscovered, The Lute Player,an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on La Hyre (see cat. no. 19)