Veduta della Villa Mazarino

Born in Nancy on August 13, 1621 and baptized on August 15 in Saint-Epvre, Israël Silvestre learned the first rudiments of drawing and painting under the direction of his father and showed a great aptitude for the arts from an early age. In 1631, at the age of 10, he lost his parents and came to Paris to take refuge with his maternal uncle and godfather, Israël Henriet, who received him as his son. Israël Henriet was a mediocre painter but an excellent draftsman. He had studied with the same masters as his friend Jacques Callot, both in Lorraine and in Italy. Born in Nancy, he had long established himself in Paris as a painter and draftsman to the king. Taking advantage of the drawing mania of the time, he taught this genre to the court figures and even had the honor of counting Louis XIII among his students (here we find the origin of the position of "drawing master" that remained in the family until the French Revolution and was held without interruption by five generations of Silvestre). Israël Henriet also made a living from a prosperous print trade, publishing in particular the plates of Callot, of which he had the exclusive rights, as well as those of Della Bella, Le Clerc, Audran, etc. Arriving very young in Paris, Israël Silvestre perfected the art of drawing with his uncle, who took him as a pupil, giving him the opportunity to copy Callot's works in pen, and learned to engrave in intaglio. He made rapid progress that allowed him, after a few years of assiduous work, to embark on an independent career. It was then that he traveled around Paris and several provinces of France and composed numerous works that established his reputation as a draftsman and engraver. As was customary at the time, he made several trips to Italy to copy the old masters and to improve his skills with the greatest masters. Faucheux fixes the dates of these trips, the first before 1640 (he was not yet 20 years old), the second from 1643 to 1644 and the last around 1653. Israel brought back numerous views of Italy, almost all of them engraved. Until 1659, he made other trips to France and Lorraine, from which he drew and engraved many images. On his return to Paris, he settled at his uncle's in rue de l'Arbre Sec, and profited from the fruits of his labor by obtaining the privilege of printing and selling his works. In 1661, the year of Israël Henriet's death, he inherited from the latter, as a universal legatee, the collection of plates by Callot and Della Bella, which, added to his own production, secured him a comfortable income. Israël Silvestre married late, at the age of 41, and on September 10, 1662, in his parish of Saint Germain l'Auxerrois, he married Henriette Sélincart, the daughter of a Paris merchant. We know of at least 10 children from this union, only 5 of whom survive their father. Henriette is said to have been a woman remarkable for both her wit and her beauty, as shown in the portraits done by Charles Lebrun. Her marriage did not slow down Israel's artistic career. In 1662, he was appointed draughtsman and engraver to the king, and in 1667 he was appointed master draughtsman of the pages of the Grande Ecurie, and in 1673 he was appointed master draughtsman to the Dauphin (the eldest son of Louis XIV and grandfather of Louis XV, called the Grand Dauphin). He also received a patent granting him accommodation in the galleries of the Louvre in 1668. Israel was admitted to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1670 on the recommendation of Charles Lebrun. He was also the head of an important workshop, where he had at least two students, the engravers François Noblesse and Meunier, as well as numerous collaborators among the best artists of their time: Stephen de LaBella, Jean Le Pautre, the three Pérelle (Gabriel, Nicolas and Adam), François Collignon, Jean Marot, etc.. It is impossible to make a complete inventory of Israël Silvestre's works, so prolific was the artist. He left numerous drawings and more than a thousand engravings (see Faucheux "Catalogue raisonné de toutes les estampes qui forment l'œuvre d'I.S."). However, among his most beautiful works, we can mention the Carrousel of 1662, the representation of the "Plaisirs de l'Isle Enchantée", the views of the royal residences of the Ile de France, including Versailles, Vaux and Fontainebleau, or the suites of the churches of Rome.