Portrait of Henri II of Lorraine, 5th Duc De Guise C.1640; Circle of Louis Ferdinard Elle (1612-1689)

The sitter in this fine head and shoulders portrait is by tradition Henri II, Duke de Guise (1614-1664). Depicted in a buff coat and sash over a white chemise with voluminous sleeves, the sitter has also been portrayed with the fashionable long hair and pencil moustache. Oil on canvas in a fine period gilt frame.

Henri II de Guise was born in Paris on April 4, 1614 and died in Paris on June 2, 1664. He was a French aristocrat, Archbishop of Rheims from 1629 to 1640, Duke de Guise from 1640 to 1664, Prince de Joinville from 1640 to 1641 and Count of Eu from 1640 to 1657. He is the second son of Charles I, Duke of Guise, and Henriette Catherine de Joyeuse. He became archbishop of Rheims at the tender age of just fifteen. He married Anne-Marie de Gonzague (1616-1684), daughter of Charles I of Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, and Catherine of Lorraine. This marriage did not last and they separated in 1641 and Henry remarried Honorine de Glymes de Berghe (died 1679) and this too ended in separation.

He conspired with Louis de Bourbon, Count of Soissons, against Richelieu and fought him during the battle of Marfee. He was later sentenced to death, fled to Flanders and later pardoned. He returned to France in 1643.

Conscious of his family claim to the Kingdom of Naples (as descendant of the Dukes of Anjou and King René) he participated in the revolt of Masaniello in 1647. This endeavour ultimately failed and he eventually moved to Paris and became Grand Chamberlain to Louis XIV and fell deeply into debt because of his expenditures for horses and entertainments. The direct line of the House of Guise ended with the death of the sickly child, Francis-Joseph (1670–75), 7th duke.

Louis Ferdinard Elle was a French painter born in Paris who received instruction from his father Ferdinand Elle (also a portrait painter and teacher to Nicolas Poussin) and at the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in Paris where he worked between 1627 to his death. He was one of the 12 men who were dissatisfied with the Paris Guild of St. Luke and who founded the Académie de peinture et de sculpture in 1648. His portraits were influenced by Anthony van Dyck and Charles Errard, among others. He became the teacher of his son, Louis Ferdinand Elle the Younger.

Provenance: Paris private collection

Measurements: Height 91cm, Width 77cm framed (Height 36.75”, Width 30.25” framed)

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