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Georges de La Tour was born on March 13, 1593 in the town of Vic-upon-Seille, in Lorraine. His baptism document indicates that he was the son of Jean de La Tour, baker, and Sybille de La Tour, n¨¦e Molian (or Malian). All Sybille¡¯s parents and siblings were bakers. Jean¡¯s father was a mason, but he, however, had chosen the profession of his wife¡¯s relatives. Jean and Sybille had 7 children, Georges was the second one, the children grew in the wealthy surroundings of well-to-do artisans.
Where was George formed and what was his education, where did he spend his youth? Maybe in Vic itself, where the Swiss painter Claude Dogoz lived, or maybe at Nance, at the studio of Jacques Bellange (died in 1616). Maybe he traveled further from his house, even to Italy, but there is no evidence of it. We do not know where and who trained him. But there's evidence that young George had friends in the court of the Duke of Lorraine. In 1617, at the age of 24, he married Diane Le Nerf, who was born in 1591 into an ennobled family: her father, Jean Le Nerf, was the treasurer of the Duke of Lorraine and lived in Lun¨¦ville. The young couple settled in Vic in the parental house.
In 1619, their first son, Philippe, was born, and the next year the family moved to Lun¨¦ville. The same, 1620, year the 27-year old La Tour was apprenticed to Claude Baccarat. It is known that around 1621-23 the Duke bought a painting by La Tour, and another one in 1624, St. Peter, which he donated to decorate the church of the convent of Minimes. The same year the Duke died; with his death, military confrontations for the domination of Lorraine started among the European monarchs.
Meanwhile the family of the artist grew: in 1621 son ¨¦tienne, who would become an artist, like his father, was born; then, in 1623, daughter Claude, in 1625, daughter Mary (the 1st), in 1627, daughter Christine, in 1628, son Louis, in 1630, son Nicolas-George, in 1632, son Andr¨¦-George, in 1634, daughter Madeleine, in 1636, the second daughter Mary (d. in 1648), by this time the first Mary had died. The second Mary was the last child of the 45 year old Diane. In 1631, the war touched the family. La Tour became the guardian of his nephews Antoine and Fran?ois Nardoyen, sons of his wife¡¯s sister, whose husband died in the war.
At last in 1634, French domination of Lorraine was established, which brought peace, for at least a short period. The artist, along with other citizens of Lun¨¦ville, took a vow of loyalty to Louis XIII. In the document of the time he is referred to as ¡®the noble George de La Tour¡¯.
It is known that since 1636, La Tour had his own apprentices. In that year the plague, which had effected the region of Lorraine particularly severely, came to Lun¨¦ville..... |
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