1633
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Portrait of a man in profile, turned to the left is a 1633 by Simon Vouet, a Baroque work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A man in a dark coat turns his head to the left, his hat tucked under his arm. His face is lined, his hair wild under the flattened top where the hat sat. Vouet painted this man—probably a court advisor—with quick, loose strokes. The pose feels unplanned, like a snapshot. When Vouet returned to France after years in Rome, he brought back this more relaxed style, ditching stiff, formal portraits for something closer to real life. For another artist who painted people with this kind of directness, look up *Caravaggio*.
Simon Vouet characterized this sitter, likely an advisor to the court of King Louis XIII, with a spontaneous pose and specific facial expression. The man’s distinguishing features are his deeply lined, almond-shaped eyes, and unruly head of hair, whose top has been flattened forward by the hat, which he holds to his side. Vouet introduced a more naturalistic mode of portraiture to France when he returned to Paris in 1627 after fourteen years in Rome. His typically frank presentations dissolved the space between the artist and sitter.
Simon Vouet drew portraits of courtiers at the express request of King Louis XIII, who wanted to observe him in order to learn how to draw.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Simon Vouet (French pronunciation: ; 9 January 1590 – 30 June 1649) was a French painter who studied and rose to prominence in Italy before being summoned by Louis XIII to serve as Premier peintre du Roi in France.
See the richer artist page
