A presumed portrait of Roger of Lorraine, Knight of Guise, by Ferdinand II

This portrait of a man in armour is no doubt to be linked to the two portraits of women depicting prominent figures of the French nobility within the Marquis de Pierre’s original hanging at the Château d’Aulteribe. Elizabeth Stuart, depicted in the portrait hung as the companion piece to this painting, is the grandmother of Elizabeth Charlotte of Bavaria, wife of Philip of France, Duke of Orléans, the only brother of Louis XIV of France; she herself would go on to become the mother of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, Regent of France.

The portrait was thus acquired on the understanding that it depicted Philippe d’Orléans. The style of the ruff and armour is very similar to that in an engraving depicting Philippe d’Orléans I, and clearly dates this painting to the 1670s, a period during which the lace ruff was worn around the neck, often adorned with a knotted ribbon. However, the characteristic nose of Louis XIV’s brother is scarcely recognisable, at least as immortalised by the painters Pierre Mignard or Antoine Mathieu.

On the other hand, the resemblance of this portrait to that of Roger de Lorraine, Chevalier de Guise, painted by Ferdinand II Elle (Private collection, Thierry Matranga Gallery) is so striking that there is little doubt as to the identity of the person depicted. The same pursed lips and, above all, the same gentle gaze, conveyed by half-closed eyes.

Roger de Lorraine (1624–1653), Chevalier de Guise, was a member of the House of Guise, the younger, French branch of the House of Lorraine. He was therefore accorded the honours due to members of ruling houses at the French court. The youngest son of Charles I of Lorraine, Duke of Guise, Count of Eu, and Henriette-Catherine de Joyeuse, Lady of Joinville, he spent several years of his childhood in Florence, as his father was exiled there by Cardinal Richelieu in 1631. At a very young age, he was made a Knight of Malta and, in 1644, he served at the siege of Gravelines.

When, in 1649, the abbacy of Eu was granted to Charles-Maurice Le Tellier, Louvois’s brother, Roger de Lorraine made a great fuss with Cardinal Mazarin, who had promised it to him, forcing Le Tellier to resign. Now on bad terms with Mazarin, he went to serve his cousin, Duke Charles IV of Lorraine, who entrusted him with the command of his troops during the Campaign of 1653. At the age of thirty, he was killed at the siege of Cambrai in 1653.

The sharply defined gaze in our portrait brings the work close to that of Claude Levebvre (1632–1675) or Ferdinand II Elle (1612–1689), such as the portrait of Roger de Lorraine from the Galerie, now in private hands. The modelling of the face is particularly similar. It therefore seems likely that the painting held at the Château d’Aulteribe should be attributed to him.

Louis Ferdinand Elle, known as ‘Elle the Elder’ or Ferdinand II (1612–1689), was the son of Ferdinand Elle the Elder (1585–1637), a painter and engraver who worked in Paris as a portrait painter at the court of Louis XIII. Louis Ferdinand Elle shared commissions for portraits of the ‘Précieux’ circle with the Beaubruns, transforming his subjects into deities. Louis Ferdinand carried on the Flemish portrait tradition inherited from his father; his figures, with their elegant poses, thus bear witness to the influence of Van Dyck. His son, Louis Ferdinand Elle the Younger (1648–1717), followed in his footsteps.