Made of almost pure pigment, soft pastel painting didn’t start until after 1650. They excel in representing flesh, so became popular for portraits, and have since extended to other genres.
Nanteuil
One of the most brilliant of the first wave of painters in pastels, a founding mother of the Rococo, and one of the greatest of all women painters.
The governor is starved by his doctor, then warned of an attack and assassins. The knight has a nocturnal visit from an old duenna which becomes uncomfortable for them both.
Starting a new series, looking at paintings of the first modern European novel. With its deep humour, Cervantes’ masterpiece has been extensively painted.
Developed in the mid 1600s, pastels are often considered to be the ‘purest’ form of painting, in which pure pigment is applied to the ground.
The early history of pastel, from Robert Nanteuil, through the brilliant portraits of Rosalba Carriera, to Maurice Quentin de La Tour, and the hyperrealism of Liotard.
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