Multimedia Art Productions

The Archbishop of Cambrai, Charles de Saint-Albin

‘clavecin contrebasse de sa fabrique vendu et livré a Monseigneur l’Archevesque Duc de Cambray  Exc. Rev. (zou afkorting kunnen zijn van Excellentissime Reverendissime, wat zou passen bij een Aartsbisschop) guarantissant pour deux ans pour l’harmonie ou autres accidents dépendants de sa fabrique, et en cas que l’harmonie vienne  à manquer le comparant s’oblige de remettre un autre clavecin contrebasse de la même qualité sur lieu où l’autre a été livré par son accocié, sous obligation respe[ctive] de sa personne et de ses biens..’

Charles de Saint-Albin, Archbishop of Cambrai
1723
Hyacinthe Rigaud (French, 1659 - 1743)
Getty Museum

The Archbishop of Cambrai, Charles de Saint-Albin, was the illegitimate son of Philippe, duc d'Orléans, and a dancer at the opera. Although his father never recognized him officially, he smoothed his son's swift advance in the Church hierarchy and aided his appointment to the archbishopric of Cambrai. In the year of his appointment, the archbishop commissioned this portrait from Hyacinthe Rigaud, the most accomplished and flattering portraitist at the court of Louis XIV.

Shown in his robes of office, Saint-Albin balances a book on his knee and presses his left hand to his chest, a gesture suggesting his spirituality. Rigaud masterfully displayed the different textures of his shimmering satin robe and the exquisitely patterned lace of the garment worn underneath. A soft ermine cape is painted so realistically that the viewer can see the indentations left by Saint-Albin's fingers as they press against the fur.