Pierre Payen-Deslandes 1659

This engraving of Pierre Payen-Deslandes was made by Robert Nanteuil in 17th century France. Nanteuil was Louis XIV's official portraitist. This image, like many others he produced, circulated within a very specific social sphere. Engravings like this one were often commissioned by the sitter and distributed among their circle to promote and consolidate their status. Payen-Deslandes was a cleric, and Nanteuil has carefully depicted his clerical garb to signal this. He was also an advisor to the French Parliament, as the inscription tells us. The print subtly affirms Payen-Deslandes's position within the intertwined structures of church and state in France at this time. We can explore how people navigated those institutions and solidified their social standing through portraits and other forms of self-representation by looking at letters, diaries, and other archival documents. Artworks like this one can only be properly understood when we understand the specific social conditions of their making.