Portrait de Charles Gobinet

Charles Gobinet (1614–1690) was a French theologian and educator, best known as the principal of the Collège du Cardinal Lemoine in Paris and author of an influential devotional work for young people. Largillière's portrait of him, held at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Chartres, would have been produced posthumously from earlier likenesses or as a commemorative image celebrating Gobinet's reputation in Catholic educational circles. Posthumous portraits of ecclesiastical and intellectual figures were common in French Baroque and early Rococo culture as a means of preserving institutional memory. The Chartres collection, with its strong regional and religious connections, would have been a fitting home for a portrait honoring a figure central to French Catholic education. The undated canvas makes attribution of a specific period within Largillière's career difficult, but his approach to clerical portraiture emphasized gravitas and intellectual presence.

Oil on canvas, likely following conventions of French ecclesiastical portraiture: a relatively plain setting directing attention to the face and possibly books or devotional objects. Largillière's handling of dark clerical dress would be comparatively restrained, with the face receiving the greatest tonal modelling to convey scholarly character.