Le Nain Brothers. The three Le Nain brothers were painters in 17th-century France: Antoine Le Nain, Louis Le Nain, and Mathieu Le Nain.
They produced genre works, portraits and portrait miniatures. The brothers were born in or near Laon in northern France.
Mathieu was born in 1607; Antoine and Louis were originally believed to have been born in 1588 and 1593, respectively, but are now thought to have been born later; the National Gallery gives them birth dates of c. 1600? and c. 1603?. By 1630, all three lived in Paris, where they shared the studio founded by Antoine, who was admitted to the Paris painters' guild, enabling his two brothers to train under him without paying fees.
Within a few years they were receiving important commissions, Antoine painting a group portrait of the aldermen of Paris in 1632. The early paintings of the Le Nains were religious, and varied in style as the brothers passed through brief periods in which they were influenced by French contemporaries such as Philippe de Champaigne, Laurent de La Hyre, and Jacques Blanchard.
A more enduring influence on their paintings of the 1630s, such as The Holy Family, was the work of the Italian artist Orazio Gentileschi, who had worked in Paris during the 1620s. The Le Nains's interest in genre and peasant subjects began around 1640. In 1648 the three brothers were received into the Academie de peinture et de sculpture on the year
They produced genre works, portraits and portrait miniatures. The brothers were born in or near Laon in northern France.
Mathieu was born in 1607; Antoine and Louis were originally believed to have been born in 1588 and 1593, respectively, but are now thought to have been born later; the National Gallery gives them birth dates of c. 1600? and c. 1603?. By 1630, all three lived in Paris, where they shared the studio founded by Antoine, who was admitted to the Paris painters' guild, enabling his two brothers to train under him without paying fees.
Within a few years they were receiving important commissions, Antoine painting a group portrait of the aldermen of Paris in 1632. The early paintings of the Le Nains were religious, and varied in style as the brothers passed through brief periods in which they were influenced by French contemporaries such as Philippe de Champaigne, Laurent de La Hyre, and Jacques Blanchard.
A more enduring influence on their paintings of the 1630s, such as The Holy Family, was the work of the Italian artist Orazio Gentileschi, who had worked in Paris during the 1620s. The Le Nains's interest in genre and peasant subjects began around 1640. In 1648 the three brothers were received into the Academie de peinture et de sculpture on the year
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