COYPEL, Antoine French Baroque Era Painter, 1661-1722
director of the French Royal Academy and principal painter of Louis XV. He illustrated many literary works, including editions of Moliere's plays, and was himself a prolific dramatist. Coypel wrote one fairy tale, Agla ou Nabotine (Agla or Little One?), published posthumously in 1779. Coypel weaves several traditional fairy tale motifs into the story of a benevolent fairy who tests the kindness and sincerity of an ugly little girl whose virtue is eventually rewarded with beauty and the love of a handsome young man.
Democritus dgf 1692
Oil on canvas, 69 x 57 cm
Mus??e du Louvre, Paris
