Hyacinthe Rigaud

Hyacinthe Rigaud
Self-portrait in a turban, 1698, Perpignan, Musée Hyacinthe Rigaud.
Born	Jacint Rigau-Ros i Serra 18 July 1659 Perpignan
Died	29 December 1743 (aged 84) Paris
Nationality	French
Education	Charles Le Brun Paul Pezet (presumed) Antoine Ranc (presumed)
Known for	painting, portraiture
Notable work	coronation portrait of Louis XIV; The Presentation in the temple; portrait of Bossuet in winter costume; portraits of Louis XIV
Movement	Baroque
Awards	Prix de Rome 1682

Hyacinthe Rigaud (French pronunciation: [ʁigo]; 18 July 1659 – 29 December 1743) was a French baroque painter of Catalan origin whose career was based in Paris.

Hyacinthe Rigaud was born in Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales), the grandson of painter-gilders from Roussillon and the elder brother of another painter (Gaspard). He was trained in tailoring in his father's workshop but perfected his skills as a painter under Antoine Ranc at Montpellier from 1671 onwards, before moving to Lyon four years later. It was in these cities that he became familiar with Flemish, Dutch and Italian painting, particularly that of Rubens, Van Dyck, Rembrandt and Titian, whose works he later collected. Arriving in Paris in 1681, he won the prix de Rome in 1682, but on the advice of Charles Le Brun did not make the trip to Rome to which this entitled him. Received into the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture in 1700, he rose to the top of this institution before retiring from it in 1735.

Since Rigaud's paintings captured very exact likenesses along with the subject's costumes and background details, his paintings are considered precise records of contemporary fashions.

Rigaud was born with the Catalan name Jyacintho Rigau or Jacint Rigau i Ros This is variously translated as Híacint Francesc Honrat Mathias Pere Martyr Andreu Joan Rigau – in Perpignan, which became part of France by the Treaty of the Pyrenees (7 November 1659) shortly after his birth.