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Miniature portrait of Karl XI, King of Sweden

Pierre Signac1672 - 1675

The Royal Armoury, Sweden

The Royal Armoury, Sweden
Stockholm, Sweden

The portrait of the Swedish King KArl XI, still a teenager, is seen in an oval frame. The young King is seen in a half-length portrait, on his upper lip a shadow of a thin moustache. He is dressed in a cuirass and with a white scarf around his neck and a necklace with a big bluish black stone underneath a royal crown. On his head a greyish brown full-bottomed wig. The background is grey. The portrait behind a glass is surrounded by a lavishly ornate frame. It consists of a latticed foliage of gold covered with white and black enamel on which surface a row of green table cut emeralds are attached. On the top of this frame a royal crown is linked to the frame, also decorated with enamel works and emeralds on a latticed foliage.

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  • Title: Miniature portrait of Karl XI, King of Sweden
  • Creator: Pierre Signac
  • Creator Lifespan: c. 1623 - 1684
  • Creator Nationality: French
  • Creator Gender: Male
  • Creator Death Place: Stockholm
  • Creator Birth Place: France
  • Date Created: 1672 - 1675
  • Provenance: Deposit from the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities in 1956.
  • Physical Dimensions: W 29 mm, H 40 mm
  • Painter: Pierre Signac
  • Artist Info: Signac was a painter of enamel and miniature. The artist arrived to Stockholm in 1646, invited by Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie. Little is known of his previous life in France. He was probably a pupil of the famous enamel painter Jean Toutin. His works reminds also of those of his contemporary Petitot. In 1648 he was employed as Her Majesty Queen Kristina’s court miniaturist. He painted a lot of portraits of her but most of them are made after originals in oil by i.e. David Beck, Sébastien Bourdon and Abraham Wuchters. After Queen Kristina’s abdication in 1654 Signac was employed by her successor Karl X and the Queen Hedvig Eleonora. As a Dowager Queen after 1660 she commissioned a considerable amount of portraits of her relatives, of herself and her son Karl XI as a child.Pierre Signac also managed to establish himself as an art and fancy goods dealer in Stockholm. He was married to Susanne Boijere, daughter of a wealthy family.
  • Subject Keywords: Miniature, Portrait, Baroque
  • Type: Gouache
  • External Link: Livrustkammaren
The Royal Armoury, Sweden

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