Portret van Jean-Baptiste Cyrus de Timbrune de Thiembronne

About this artwork

height 500 mm x width 337 mm

Art Historical Context

Step into the refined world of early 19th-century portraiture with *Portret van Jean-Baptiste Cyrus Timbrune de Thiembronne*, a striking 1824 lithography by French artist Henri Gréved. Measuring 500 mm high by 337 mm wide, this substantial print captures the dignified likeness of its aristocratic subject, likely a noble from the prominent Thiembronne family. Grévedon, a master of the emerging medium, specialized in elegant portraits that bridged fine art and accessible reproduction during France's Bourbon Restoration era. Lithography, invented just decades earlier, revolutionized printmaking by allowing artists to draw directly on stone with greasy crayon, producing richly toned images that rivaled paintings in detail and nuance. Grévedon's expertise shines here, as he was among the pioneers adapting this technique for high-quality portraits of Europe's elite. The large format suggests it was designed for display in salons or collections, making sophisticated likenesses available beyond oil paintings' exclusivity. This work reflects the cultural shift toward democratizing portraiture post-Napoleonic Europe, preserving the grandeur of nobility in an age of political flux. A testament to lithography's artistic potential, it invites us to ponder the subject's story amid the elegance of Grévedon's line.