Pierre Mignard I
French, 1612 ‑ 1695
Portrait of a Marshal of France, probably François‑Henri de Montmorency‑Bouteville, Duke of
Luxembourg (1628 ‑ 1695), after 1688
Oil on canvas
57 5/8 × 41 1/2 in. (146.4 × 105.4 cm.)
Preston Pope Satterwhite Collection, by exchange  1958.8.2

A Celebrated War Hero in All His Finery
King Louis XIV of France personally requested that the painter Pierre Mignard return to his home country, following a twenty-year stay in Italy, in order to produce flattering portraits of the King and the celebrities of his court at Versailles. The sitter for this portrait, FrançoisHenri de MontmorencyBouteville was a high-ranking general in the French army with several victories to his name. He holds a baton decorated with royal fleurs-de-lis to indicate his position as a Marshal of France, an honor conferred by the king for military service to the crown.