19.11.1616 – 30.04.1655

November 19, 1616, the famous French painter Eustace Lesuer was born. The son of a woodcarver, he entered the workshop of the famous court painter Simon Vou at the age of 16. The master highly valued the talented student, and in the 1630s entrusted him with a large order – 8 paintings on scenes from the poem of the Venetian author of the 15th century “Polifil’s Dreams”, which were later performed in trellises. This was the beginning of the artist’s great creative career.

Worked as an artist in the genre of portrait. His paintings are characterized by a rich color palette and airiness, ease of drawing, the ability to convey the individuality of their models. In the paintings of Lesuyer felt imitation of the great master of the Renaissance Rafael Santi. Light coloring, restraint poses, pictures of Lesuer’s brush on the gospel stories are full of contemplative tranquility, they do not have the baroque heat of passion and pretentiousness.

Female images of the artist, appearing in pictures on mythological subjects, are full of sensuality and sophistication. The elegant pose of the goddess of love on the canvas “Sleeping Venus and Cupid” and effective chiaroscuro after two centuries, creating its odalisks, repeated Ingres, who admired the painting of Lesuer.

Since 1648, Estás Lesuer – a recognized master, he fulfills orders for the royal court, rich monasteries, cathedrals and even for the king’s apartments in the Louvre. Decorative and refined painting Liseruer allowed him to become an outstanding interior decorator, in the French school of painting, this activity was not only particularly profitable, but always took an honorable place.

But the fate of most of the artist’s works, unfortunately, is sad. Most of the decorative panels are not preserved, and the few remaining are scattered and stored in the museum’s storerooms, many of the pictures are known only from engravings made from them or even from references in documents. Therefore, this great master of French painting is not widely known.