It would be giving undue importance to these painters of the Louis XIV.
period if we were to go beyond a mere enumeration of their leaders and
their chief works at the Louvre. None of them possessed any marked
individuality; and most of them were linked together, not only by
similar aims and ambitions, but also by family ties. Four members of
the Coypel family rose to great eminence among their fellow-artists,
and to important official positions. Noël Coypel (1628-1707), the
painter of the four historical compositions, _Solon defending his Laws
before the Athenians_ (No. 157), _Ptolomy Philadelphus giving the Jews
their Freedom_ (No. 158), _Trajan giving a Public Audience_ (No. 159),
and the _Foresight of Septimus Severus_ (No. 160), all of which were
originally executed for the Council Chamber at Versailles; his sons
Antoine Coypel (1661-1722), whose best known pictures at the Louvre are
the _Susannah and the Elders_ (No. 169) and the _Democritos_ (No. 174),
which recalls Jordaens in its exuberant life, and Noël Nicolas Coypel
(1692-1734), whose goddesses and nymphs already reflect the taste which
dominated the eighteenth century; as well as Antoine’s son, Charles
Antoine Coypel (1694-1752), whose uninspired art may best be studied in
the _Perseus delivering Andromeda_ (No. 180).
_The Triumph of Bacchus_ (No. 447) and _The Annunciation_ (No. 445),
by Charles de La Fosse (1636-1716); _Hercules fighting the Centaurs_
(No. 53), by Bon Boulogne (1649-1717); and _The Marriage of St.
Catherine_ (No. 55), by his brother Louis Boulogne (1654-1733), only
serve to illustrate the mediocrity of their respective authors. The
impersonality of Bon Boulogne’s art had at least the advantage that his
teaching left free scope for personal expression to his many pupils.
Even the still-life painting of the “_grand siècle_,” which found its
chief exponent in Jean Baptiste Monnoyer (1634-1699), partakes of the
love of pomp and display that characterises this period. Gold and
silver vases, precious stuffs and furniture generally accompany his
flowers, which are painted without real appreciation of their natural
beauty, and in purely local tints without a hint of the effect of each
colour upon its surroundings. The _Flowers_ (No. 648), in the La Caze
Gallery, may be mentioned as a typical example.