Philippe de Champaigne, 'Cardinal de Richelieu', 1633-40

This full-length portrait of Armand-Jean du Plessis, duc de Richelieu (1585–1642) celebrates his powerful position within the French Church and government. He is dressed in the robe and skull cap of a cardinal, a position granted to him in 1622. His left hand lifts the robe to reveal a delicate layer of lace, also visible on his sleeves, beneath the great expanse of sumptuous red fabric. Richelieu is painted larger than life size, although his small head is out of proportion with his body. His tall and imposing appearance is accentuated by the block of colour of his robes and their generous folds. Around his neck hangs the cross of the Order of the Holy Spirit, symbolised by a dove. On the right, a highly ornate chair with a deeply padded cushion signifies his high-ranking office as France’s Chief Minister, a position he held from 1624 until his death.

Richelieu is shown standing, a pose usually seen in seventeenth-century portraits of secular figures such as kings and princes, in celebration of his outstanding achievements as a politician. Members of the clergy were traditionally shown seated. The richly embroidered golden curtain has been opened to reveal the terrace to the left and garden beyond which may be a view of the Cardinal’s château at Rueil, near Paris. Richelieu’s face, which stares out at the viewer, was repeated in Champaigne’s Triple Portrait of Cardinal de Richelieu of around 1642, where it is flanked by two profile views.

This is one of seven versions of the full-length portrait painted between 1633 and 1640 which show Richelieu in various settings. In each the cardinal either holds or wears a biretta, a cardinal’s hat. In this painting, and another in the Royal Collection, the artist places Richelieu in the same pose, holding the hat at arm’s length. The act of removing the hat embodies his dual role within the Church and state.

This is the most finished and carefully-painted version, one of only a few works that the artist signed. It may be the last version, painted in around 1640, which remained in the artist’s studio as a model for other portraits and was particularly admired by Richelieu. Yet it is unlikely that the artist would have signed a work that he kept, which suggests that this version was intended as a gift. One version was displayed in Richelieu’s Paris residence, the Palais-Cardinal, now part of the Palais Royale – an engraving made after the painting shows a Latin inscription has been added which is missing from our painting.

Champaigne spent most of his career working in Paris. He painted the other great French ministers of the seventeenth century: Cardinal Mazarin (1602–1661) in about 1653 (Musée Condé, Chantilly) and Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619–1683) in 1655 (Metropolitan Museum, New York).