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<p>In 1651 Colbert joined the household of Cardinal Mazarin, principal advisor to Queen Anne of Austria during the minority of Louis XIV (1638–1715), and one of the great collectors of the seventeenth century. Having recouped the cardinal’s fortune, Colbert entered the king’s service and, ten years after he sat for this portrait, was appointed minister of finance. He was instrumental in reforming the arts to serve the monarchy. In 1648, he and Charles Le Brun took charge of the Académie Royale and in 1666 founded the French Academy in Rome.
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<bdi><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Philippe_de_Champaigne" class="extiw" title="w:en:Philippe de Champaigne"><span title="French painter (1602-1674)">Philippe de Champaigne</span></a>
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1655<div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1655-00-00T00:00:00Z/9</div>
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/435886">Metropolitan Museum of Art, online collection (The Met object ID 435886)</a>