(Montpellier 1674–1735 Madrid)
A portrait of an elegant lady in a red dress and blue cloak,
oil on canvas, 147.4 x 114.3 cm, framed

We are grateful to Stéphan Perreau for confirming the attribution. He will include the present painting in his forthcoming catalogue raisonné. The portrait has also been requested for the first monographic exhibition on Ranc’s oeuvre, which will be compiled by Perreau at the Musée Fabre in Montpellier in December 2018.

According to Perreau, this portrait is one of the earliest autonomous works by this artist and was painted while Ranc was still in the workshop of Hyacinthe Rigaud in Paris.

Jean Ranc was born in Montpellier in Southern France in 1674 and was the son of the painter Antoine Ranc. His father, who was known only regionally, owned a collection of European paintings and headed a workshop attended by numerous students. From 1671 the workshop also included the painter Hyacinthe Rigaud. Jean Ranc received his early training in his father’s studio and then went to Paris in 1696, where he studied under Hyacinthe Rigaud and subsequently stayed on as his collaborator. On 13 June 1715, Ranc married Marguerite Elisabeth Rigaud, one of Rigaud’s nieces.

Besides his apprenticeship in Rigaud’s workshop, Ranc studied at the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture, where enrolled in1700. His Portrait of Nicolas van Plattenberg (Versailles), admitted him to the Academy as a member in 1703. He became a successful portraitist working for the Parisian aristocracy and in 1707 became a teacher for painting at the Académie royale. When the House of Bourbon ascended the Spanish throne with Philip V, they wished to employ a leading French artist. After such renowned painters as Jean François de Troy, Nicolas de Largillière, and Rigaud had not shown any interest in the offer, the French minister and cardinal Guillaume Dubois sent Jean Ranc to the Spanish court, who had been recommended by Rigaud.