Triple portrait of Cardinal de Richelieu

Philippe de Champaigne painted the Triple Portrait of Cardinal de Richelieu around 1642, sending three views of the cardinal's face — full-face, three-quarter, and profile — to Gian Lorenzo Bernini in Rome, who used them as the basis for a marble bust of the cardinal. The format was established by Anthony van Dyck's triple portrait of Charles I (now in Windsor), which served the same purpose of providing a sculptor with multiple vantage points for a work to be executed in absentia. Champaigne's three views of Richelieu's distinctive face — strong jaw, deep-set eyes, the thin beard of the era's Spanish fashion — constitute an extraordinary analytical study of likeness. The painting is now in the National Gallery, London.

The three views of the same face demonstrate Champaigne's precise draftsmanship and consistent lighting, creating a remarkable document of physiognomic accuracy that served both artistic and practical sculptural purposes.