Mignard, Pierre

Mignard, Pierre (pyĕr mēnyär`), 1612–95, French painter. In 1657 he was summoned by Louis XIV to portray the king and celebrities of the court. In 1664 he decorated, in fresco, the cupola of the Church of Val-de-Grâce, Paris. In his theories, rather than in his painting, he led the opposition against Le Brun and the Académie royale, but after the death of Le Brun, Mignard succeeded to the directorship of the Académie and of the Gobelin tapestry works. Among his best-known works are St. Luke Painting the Virgin, and Mme de Maintenon (Louvre).