Meekness
<p>Eustache Le Sueur painted the eight Beatitudes, the ideal qualities Jesus identified in his Sermon on the Mount in the Bible, for the private chapel in his patron Guillaume Birssonnet’s Paris home. This personification of meekness was part of that decoration and accompanied an altarpiece of the Annunciation, monochrome scenes of the life of the Virgin Mary, and a ceiling depicting her Assumption. The Beatitudes, with their patterned gold ground, lined the lower story of this elegant ensemble. Only the Annunciation altarpiece and two of the Beatitudes survive.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1650
- Medium
- Oil on panel
- Dimensions
- 100.7 × 67 cm (39 7/8 × 26 3/8 in.); Framed: 111.8 × 77.5 cm (44 × 30 1/2 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Artist
- Eustache Le Sueur
Artist
Painting
Eustache Le Sueur was a French painter of the 17th century active in Paris, where he developed a distinctive approach to religious and historical narrative painting. Working primarily in oil on canvas, he is distinguished by his restrained color palette, classical composition, and psychological clarity in depicting biblical and allegorical subjects. His work bridges the dramatic intensity of Baroque tradition with a more measured, contemplative sensibility that would influence French academic painting.
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More by Eustache Le Sueur
Study for Saint Louis Healing the Sick
1649 · Black chalk, heightened with white chalk, on brown laid paper, laid down on cream laid card
Head of a Woman
1646 · Black chalk on buff laid paper
Holy Family
1642 · Graphite, with brush and gray wash, on ivory laid paper, laid down on cream laid paper
Study for Priest Bearing Crozier
1637 · Charcoal, heightened with white chalk, on brown laid paper, laid down on ivory laid paper
Scene from Roman History, with Draped Figure Presenting Book to Ruler
1600 · Brush and brown wash, with black chalk, on tan laid paper, laid down on cream laid card
Standing Draped Male Figure, Holding Staff
1600 · Black chalk, heightened with white chalk, on tan laid paper, tipped on ivory laid paper
Record
Verified by WattsOS- Artist
- Eustache Le Sueur
- Year
- 1650
- Medium
- Oil on panel
- Dimensions
- 100.7 × 67 cm (39 7/8 × 26 3/8 in.); Framed: 111.8 × 77.5 cm (44 × 30 1/2 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-1650-019270
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified