Abbot Dressed as Spaniard by Fragonard Postcard

Jean-Claude Richard, Abbot of Saint-Non, Dressed 'a l'Espagnole' by Jean-Honore Fragonard c. 1769, is an oil on canvas full length portrait of a man dressed in Spanish costume with feathered hat, sash and white ruffles, grasping a musketeer sword. Fragonard’s bravado brushwork and enormous technical dexterity capture the character of the subject with great flair and panache in the alla prima direct approach of oil painting, a remarkable portrait of a member of French society in the Rococo era. Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806) was a late Rococo painter of the French Ancien Régime whose works were distinguished by painterly facility and exuberance. Originally a pupil of Chardin, Fragonard produced a large number of works until the growing fashion of neo-classicism and the French Revolution forced him to flee into obscurity. Fragonard’s reputation revived in the late 19th century, when his sense of colour, relaxed hedonistic subject matter and painterly brushwork inspired new generations of the Impressionists such as Renoir.