Le Clerc, Sébastien (1637-1714; French)
17 engravings from Les Grandes Conquêtes du Roi (c.1686-87)
Etching and engraving, various sizes
Gift of George Collins Levey 1879
National Gallery of Victoria (p.183.136-1 etc.)
= Levey gift, cat.nos.134 etc.
[photo: Rees (p.183.174-1)]
A gifted and prolific engraver during the latter half of Louis XIV’s reign, Le Clerc was admitted to the Academy in 1672 and officially appointed Graveur du roi around 1688.
He supervised completion of this series, and was directly responsible for the main images of some 17 of the 40 engravings, which depict episodes from the military triumphs of Louis XIV during the later 1660s and 1670s, especially over Franche Comté (1668) and the Netherlands (1672-78). For more extended remarks on the whole series, see Levey gift, cat.134-73).
As well as engraving the central images listed below, Le Clerc also completed a number of the framing components in other prints in the series (printed from separate plates), and also appears to have designed the compositions engraved by others: see e.g. comments on Châtillon 14 engravings from Les Grandes Conquêtes du Roi {1879} NGV [PR].
Prints credited in full to Le Clerc are as follows, listed in the sequence in which they appear in Suite et Arrangement (1727); titles are followed by NGV acquisition nos. (ill. indicates reproduced in the NGV’s online catalogue), and Levey gift cat.nos.:
Arc de Triomphe de Louis XIV a la porte de St. Antoine [p.183.177-1] Levey gift, cat.134
Rees [p.183.174-1: ill.] Levey gift, cat.138 (reproduced here)
Le Fort de Schenck [p.183.146-1] Levey gift, cat.141
Nimegue [p.183.159-1; ill.] Levey gift, cat.144
Grey [p.183.143-1] Levey gift, cat.147
Salins [p.183.171-1] Levey gift, cat.148
Bataille de Saintzheim [p.183.147-1] Levey gift, cat.152
Bataille de Seneff [p.183.142-1] Levey gift, cat.153
Messine secourue [p.183.140-1] Levey gift, cat.154
Agousta [p.183.138-1] Levey gift, cat.157
Bataille naval près Agousta [p.183.137-1] Levey gift, cat.158
Bouchain [p.183.165-1] Levey gift, cat.159
Bataille de Palerme [p.183.139-1] Levey gift, cat.160
Lescalette [p.183.141-1] Levey gift, cat.162
La Bataille de Cassel [p.183.136-1; ill.] Levey gift, cat.164
Bataille de Cassel [p.183.158-1] Levey gift, cat.165
Gand [p.183.150-1] Levey gift, cat. 170 [engraver not named in Suite et Arrangement (1727); listed as attributed to Le Clerc by NGV]
Refs.
None of these engravings is listed in NGV 1894 or 1905
Refer NGV catalogue as noted above. For the information about Le Clerc’s role in producing frames and designs for compositions by others in this series, see Meyer in Fuhring Kingdom of Images (2015), cat.8, as cited in Châtillon 14 engravings from Les Grandes Conquêtes du Roi {1879} NGV [PR]; and for Le Clerc, see also linked artist entry