(Paris 1674–1734)
Portrait of a nobleman in a breastplate,
oil on canvas, 100,3 x 80 cm, framed

This impressive portrait has only recently been identified as the work of Alexis Simon Belle, and probably dates to ca. 1720. Although it has, to date, proved This impressive portrait has only recently been identified as the work of Alexis Simon Belle, and probably dates to ca. 1720. Although it has, to date, proved impossible to put a name to the sitter, the elegant pose and the unusual and luxurious jacket with lynx-trimmed lapels, in combination with the breastplate, suggest an important patron. The portrait has no doubt been influenced by François de Troy, at whose workshop Belle trained while in the exiled Stuart court at Saint Germain-en-Laye. Belle became court painter to the Stuarts and stayed loyal to them, even when he might have moved to Rome after winning the Prix de Rome. 

He painted some of the best known portraits of the Catholic pretender and was proud of his position as a court painter, as is evident from his use of the suffix pictor regis Britan. in some of his few signed portraits. The present painting lends itself to a comparison with the portrait of James Francis Edward Stuart, attributed to Belle and today at the Royal Collection, London.