French school, ca. 1690. Circle of PIERRE MIGNARD (Troyes, 1612-Paris, 1695)."Portrait of a lady like Sibila de Cumas".Oil on canvas. Relined.Frame of the early twentieth century.With chips.Measurements: 180 x 108 cm; 206 x 135 cm (frame).This female portrait is resolved in a precious language characteristic of Pierre Mignard, a great portrait painter of the 17th century. The protagonist, a young lady conceived as the Sibyl of Cumae, is represented full-length, in a dynamic attitude, pointing with her left hand to a small child resting next to her. Because of its delicate chromaticism and subtle brushwork, this work can be related to the circle of the painter Pierre Mignard. Mignard's first training took place with Jean Boucher in Bourges and then, in 1633, he moved to Simon Vouet's studio in Paris. Two years later he took the road to Rome, where he arrived in 1636 and where he would remain for more than twenty years, until October 1657. There he became acquainted with the greatest standard-bearers of classical idealism, such as Domenichino or Nicolas Poussin, whose painting was based on the study of the sculptures of Antiquity and the works of Raphael passed through the sieve of Annibale Carracci. However, Mignard did not fail to be attentive to other novelties in the trends of Roman painting of his time, such as neo-Venetianism. His interest in the great Venetian masters of the previous century was so strong that it prompted him to make a trip to the lake city and northern Italy in 1654 and 1655. In 1657 he returned to France, passing through Avignon and Fontainebleau - where he portrayed Louis XIV - before arriving in Paris. Portraiture was the genre in which he excelled, and he gained a great reputation with the representations of prominent court figures in elegant allegorical compositions. Nor did he disdain historical painting, the most honorable genre according to contemporary academic postulates; at the same time he carried out works of great commitment, such as the decoration of the dome of the abbey of Val-de-Grâce (Paris) for Anne of Austria in 1663, where he was able to apply the teachings of Giovanni Lanfranco that he had received in Rome. The death of the minister Colbert caused the undisputed fortune that the first painter Charles Le Brun had enjoyed until then to decline, and the rise to power of Louvois, Mignard's protector, placed him in an ideal position to obtain royal rewards. From then on, his courtly success only increased and Le Brun's death in 1690 made him the king's first painter and director of the Academy. The Prado Museum preserves several works related to Pierre Mignard, all from the royal collections.