The Sculptor François Girardon
by VIVIEN, Joseph, Pastel on blue paper, 70 x 80 cm
This portrait is one of the two admission pieces that Vivien presented in 1701 to the Acad�mie Royal de Peinture et de Sculpture in Paris. Utilising either paint or pastel, candidates for portraiture were required to depict two former members occupying a high position in the hierarchy of the Acad�mie, and were admitted or refused on the strength of these two pieces.