The Premier peintre du Roi (; 'First painter to the King') was a court painter position within the administration of the Bâtiments du Roi of the Département de la Maison du Roi in France under the Ancien Régime. Its holder occupied a similar position to that of Premier architecte du Roi (albeit a far less prestigious one). The holder was not in charge of any other court staff, and the role was often without a holder.
Unlike in other countries, the premier peintre was often, even usually, not a specialist portrait-painter, but was always a native Frenchman. The most famous holder, Nicolas Poussin, was persuaded to return to France in 1640 to take the office, but returned to Rome after a little more than a year. Despite this, he held the position for another 23 years.
In contrast, his successor Charles Le Brun devoted most of his time to his work for Louis XIV, decorating his palaces and designing for and supervising the royal factories of the Savonnerie manufactory for carpets and the Gobelins Manufactory for tapestries and furniture. Le Brun had a bitter, life-long rivalry with the portraitist Pierre Mignard, who finally succeeded him at the age of 78, but only held the post for the five years before he died.Lada Nikolenko. "Mignard." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 25 May. 2017
Holders
1603–1619 : Martin Fréminet 1627–1649 : Simon Vouet 1641–1665 : Nicolas Poussin 1664–1690 : Charles Le Brun 1690–1695 : Pierre Mignard 1695–1716 : vacant 1716–1722 : Antoine Coypel 1722–1725 : vacant 1725–1733 : Louis de Boullogne 1733–1736 : vacant 1736–1737 : François Lemoyne 1737–1746 : vacant 1746–1752 : Charles-Antoine Coypel 1752–1762 : vacant 1762–1765 : Carle Van Loo 1765–1770 : François BoucherLevey, Michael. (1993) Painting and sculpture in France 1700-1789. New Haven: Yale University Press, p. 172. 1770–1789 : Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre 1789–1791 : Joseph-Marie Vien
See also Principal Painter in Ordinary, a similar position in Britain
References