DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.69603#0211
LE SUEUR.
Without having beheld the chef d’oeuvres of Italy,
Le Sueur, at the age of thirty, obtained the title of the
Raphael of France. To what a degree of perfection
would he not have carried painting, had he enjoyed the
advantage of visiting the country of the fine arts, and had
nature granted him a longer career. After Poussin, Le
Sueur justly maintains the first rank in the French school
of painting. Le Brun is the only one who can dispute
with him that honour. The compositions of the latter
are generally more magnificent, but the taste of Le Sueur
is infinitely more delicate, his designs more spirited and
correct, and his expression more striking. His colouring
is indeed weak, but the turn of his draperies is admirable;
and his touch is remarkable for lightness, which the pencil
of his competitor in no wise presents.
Mild, modest, and unassuming, like Raphael, Le Sueur
appears to have been penetrated with the same sentiment
of grace and naivete. It may be cited, as the last proof
x)f their conformity, the premature death of these cele-
brated men. It is at least probable that Le Sueur, having
studied with peculiar care the small number of the pic-
tures of Raphael which France at that time possessed,
and the engravings after that master, caught in some
measure his manner, and appropriated his style.
Le Sueur was born at Paris in 1617. His father was a
sculptor. Placed very early under the tuition of Simon
Vouet, he at first adopted the taste of his school. He
Without having beheld the chef d’oeuvres of Italy,
Le Sueur, at the age of thirty, obtained the title of the
Raphael of France. To what a degree of perfection
would he not have carried painting, had he enjoyed the
advantage of visiting the country of the fine arts, and had
nature granted him a longer career. After Poussin, Le
Sueur justly maintains the first rank in the French school
of painting. Le Brun is the only one who can dispute
with him that honour. The compositions of the latter
are generally more magnificent, but the taste of Le Sueur
is infinitely more delicate, his designs more spirited and
correct, and his expression more striking. His colouring
is indeed weak, but the turn of his draperies is admirable;
and his touch is remarkable for lightness, which the pencil
of his competitor in no wise presents.
Mild, modest, and unassuming, like Raphael, Le Sueur
appears to have been penetrated with the same sentiment
of grace and naivete. It may be cited, as the last proof
x)f their conformity, the premature death of these cele-
brated men. It is at least probable that Le Sueur, having
studied with peculiar care the small number of the pic-
tures of Raphael which France at that time possessed,
and the engravings after that master, caught in some
measure his manner, and appropriated his style.
Le Sueur was born at Paris in 1617. His father was a
sculptor. Placed very early under the tuition of Simon
Vouet, he at first adopted the taste of his school. He