(1) A large oval. Signature: "C. Lebrun pinx, F. Poilly sculpt." Inscription:
Illustrissimus vir Nicolaus Foucquet
Generalis in Supremo regii Ærarii
Præfectus: V. Comes Melodunensis, etc.
In a later copy, Foucquet's arms replace the Latin inscription.
(2) A spoiled and softened copy, very careless workmanship. Signature: "C. Mellan del. et F."
(3) An imitation. Foucquet, seated in a straight-backed armchair, with large wrought nail-heads, with a casket on the table beside him. He holds a pen in his right hand, and paper in his left. Inscription:
Magna videt, majora latent; ecce aspicis artis
Clarum opus, et virtus clarior arte latet,
Umbra est et fulget, solem miraris in umbra
Quid sol ipse micat, cujus et umbra micat.
Signature: "Œgid. Rousselet, sculpt., 1659."
(4) An imitation. Signature: "Larmessin, 1661." Finally, we must mention a full-length portrait, which seems inspired by the foregoing. The Superintendent is standing, wearing a long robe; he holds in his right hand a small bag, in his left a paper. A raised curtain displays, on the right, a country scene, with a torrent, a rock and a fortified château. In the sky, Renown puts a trumpet to her mouth. In her left hand she holds another trumpet with a bannerette on which is written: "Quo non ascendet?" Inscription:
A quel degré d'honneur ne peut-il pas monter
S'il s'élève tousjours par son propre courage?
Son nom et sa vertu lui donnent l'advantage
De pouvoir tout prétendre et de tout mériter.
[23] A summary of the inventory at Saint-Mandé: MS. of the Bibliothèque Nat. Manusc. Suppl, fr. 10958, cited by M. Edm. Bonnaffé, Les Amateurs de l'ancienne France.—Le Surintendant Foucquet, librairie de l'Art, 1882.