Portrait de la famille Boutin de Diencourt

Family portraits were among the most complex and commercially significant commissions in Largillière's practice, requiring him to organise multiple figures—typically two to five—in a composition that flattered all sitters while maintaining visual coherence. This 1713 portrait of the Boutin de Diencourt family, held by the Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'Archéologie de Besançon, dates from Largillière's most productive and celebrated period, when his Salon submissions attracted consistent praise and his studio was among the busiest in Paris. Family portraits in the Largillière manner arranged parents and children in landscape or interior settings that conveyed both dynastic continuity and the affectionate bonds of the private family—a balance that became increasingly important in early-eighteenth-century French portraiture. Besançon's collection provides an important regional perspective on French academic painting of the period.

Multi-figure compositions required Largillière to maintain tonal and coloristic coherence across all sitters while still differentiating their individual characters. He typically arranged family groups with the most formally dressed adult figure as the compositional anchor, with children and secondary figures in more relaxed postures. The outdoor or semi-outdoor setting allowed him to unite the group in natural light.