This large medallion is distinguished by the sharp modeling of the hair and beard, a sense of amplitude in the chest and shoulders of the sitter, and the polish and richness of the patination. But it is the sensitivity with which the 78-year-old man is presented that makes this such a memorable portrait of Pierre Jeannin, jurist, diplomat and close councilor to the king of France, Louis XIII. The relief is so fine and its surface so carefully worked that it is likely to have been the first cast made by the artist, Guillaume Dupré.

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