François-Xavier Lalanne

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Jean Ranc

1674 - 1735

Portrait of Jean-Louis de Roll Montpellier (1689-1761) as a hunter

Oil on canvas

Inscribed and dated on the reverse peint par J. Ranc / 1710 [11 ?]

146 x 114,6 cm ; 57½ by 45⅛ in.

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Jean Ranc

1674 - 1735

Portrait de Jean-Louis de Roll Montpellier (1689-1761) en chasseur

Huile sur toile

Inscrit et daté au dos de la toile peint par J. Ranc / 1710 [11 ?]

146 x 114,6 cm ; 57½ by 45⅛ in.

Provenance
Anonymous sale, Christie's, Monaco, 15 June 1990, lot 17 (as French School, early 18^th Century, titled Portrait d'un chasseur, assis et ganté de blanc, dans un vaste paysage)

Anonymous sale, Christie's, Monaco, 22 June 1991, lot 152 (titled Portrait d'un chasseur, assis et ganté de blanc, dans un vaste paysage, sold for 200.000 francs)

With Galerie Colnaghi, London, 1993

Anonymous sale, Christie's, Paris, 8 November 2005, lot 322 (titled Portrait d'un chasseur)

Where acquired by Monsieur Hubert Guerrand-Hermès

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Vente anonyme, Christie's, Monaco, 15 juin 1990, lot 17 (comme Ecole française du début du XVIII^e siècle, sous le titre Portrait d'un chasseur, assis et ganté de blanc, dans un vaste paysage)

Vente anonyme, Christie's, Monaco, 22 juin 1991, lot 152 (sous le titre Portrait d'un chasseur, assis et ganté de blanc, dans un vaste paysage, vendu 200.000 francs)

Galerie Colnaghi, Londres, 1993

Vente anonyme, Christie's, Paris, 8 novembre 2005, lot 322 (sous le titre Portrait d'un chasseur)

Où acquis par Monsieur Hubert Guerrand-Hermès

Literature
S. Perreau, 'Les années parisiennes de Jean Ranc', in L'Estampille l'objet d'art, January 2012, p. 43, repr.

M. Hilaire, S. Perreau and P. Stépanoff, exhibition catalogue Jean Ranc, Un Montpelliérain à la cour des rois, Montpellier, Musée Fabre, January-April 2020, p. 170, fig. 1

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S. Perreau,'Les années parisiennes de Jean Ranc', dans L’Estampille l’objet d’art, janvier 2012, p. 43, repr.

M. Hilaire, S. Perreau et P. Stépanoff, catalogue d'exposition Jean Ranc, Un Montpelliérain à la cour des rois, Montpellier, Musée Fabre, janvier-avril 2020, p. 170, fig. 1

Catalogue note
Jean Louis de Roll-Montpellier is shown here in hunter’s attire. Holding his gun in a confident grip, with a game bag over his shoulder, he is positioned proudly before a landscape with a shooting ground visible in the background, lit by a ray of light. 

On the back, the name of the artist is followed by the date 1710; although Jean Ranc did not sign or date all his works, these inscriptions could nevertheless be in his hand (for an example of a canvas signed on the back, see the portraits of Pierre Gaudron and Jeanne Catillon, now in a private collection). The given date is in any event consistent with the artist’s life.

By 1710, Jean Ranc’s skills as a portrait painter were already bringing him considerable success: in 1703, he had been admitted to the Académie Royale as a portraitist; and it was as an official portrait painter to the Spanish court that he entered the service of King Philip V, from 1722 until the end of his life.

Born in Montpellier, Jean Ranc trained first with his father, Antoine Ranc, in whose atelier Hyacinthe Rigaud had notably also begun his apprenticeship. Antoine Ranc was renowned for his extensive collection of old masters, in particular the Northern Schools, and his pupils also included Jean Raoux and the Verdier brothers. However, it was Hyacinthe Rigaud whom Ranc joined in Paris in the early 1690s, a decade after his master had settled there; with Rigaud, Ranc perfected his style, remaining in his circle until he left for Spain. 

This elegant portrait illustrates the particular idiom that Ranc developed: the model’s penetrating gaze departs from Rigaud’s more hieratic figures. The hard stare is counterbalanced by the treatment of the porcelain flesh tones, the cheeks and lips accentuated in red, and by the long, finely drawn eyebrows which bring harmony to the face. The model’s relaxed pose is distinct from the stiffer models of his contemporaries.

The composition is constructed almost geometrically around the gun held in his long, slender fingers. The artist has rendered the weapon – the central motif of the composition – with scrupulous care and as much realism as possible: in this respect, Ranc could have been inspired by the many hunting portraits that were fashionable at that time. In the early eighteenth century, the aristocracy wished to be portrayed in all their splendour. However, while an ostentatious portrait of a figure in hunting attire allowed the model to demonstrate his high rank in society, it also offered the artist an opportunity to display all his talent in the genre of still life as well as in portraiture.

The present composition recalls that of the Portrait of a hunter by Santerre, now in the Musée de la Chasse in Paris (loan from the Musée du Louvre, inv. 3900), and of course the Self-portrait as a hunter by Desportes in this sale (see preceding lot), whose works Ranc would have been able to admire at the Académie.

Ranc is nevertheless particularly distinctive for his smooth, vigorous brushstroke and the dramatic presence he gives to his model, probably a legacy of the Flemish painters who were around him throughout his apprenticeship. Standing out against a dark ground, the brown tones of the model’s clothing seem to create a contrast with the white highlights that illuminate the composition. It is this virtuoso quality that his contemporaries noted, especially Michael Huber in his Notices générales des graveurs: divisés par nations et des peintres rangés par écoles, in which Jean Ranc is distinguished for ‘his floating drapery and his taste for ornament’ (Dresden, 1787, p. 624, our translation).

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Jean Louis de Roll-Montpellier est ici représenté vêtu en chasseur. Tenant d’une main assurée son fusil et portant à l’épaule une besace, il se tient fièrement devant un paysage duquel se détache en arrière-plan, dans une touche de lumière, un plateau de gibier.

Au dos, on peut lire le nom de l’artiste suivi de la date 1710 ; si Jean Ranc ne signe ni ne date toutes ses œuvres, ces inscriptions pourraient néanmoins être de sa main (pour un exemple de toile signée au dos, voir par exemple les Portraits de Pierre Gaudron et de Jeanne Catillon aujourd'hui en collection particulière). La date indiquée est en tout cas cohérente dans la vie du peintre.

En 1710, les qualités de portraitiste de Jean Ranc lui assurent déjà un grand succès : en 1703, c’est comme portraitiste qu’il est d'ailleurs reçu à l’Académie royale ; ce sera également en tant que portraitiste officiel de la cour d’Espagne qu’il entrera au service du roi Philippe V de 1722 jusqu’à la fin de sa vie.

Né à Montpellier, Jean Ranc a d’abord étudié auprès de son père, Antoine Ranc, dont