Antoine Pesne was a French painter who achieved Europe-wide fame primarily for his portraits of the Prussian aristocracy of the 18th century. Pesne is considered one of the founders of Rococo painting, particularly Friderician Rococo, and in addition to his portraits he created a series of ambitious, large-scale ceiling paintings as well as a series on dancers and actresses who performed at the Berlin Opera, based on the style of Antoine Watteau.
Born in Paris on 29 May 1683, Pesne first studied in his native city with his uncle, the painter Charles de la Fosse, and other leading French portraitists, such as Nicolas de Largillière and HHyacinthe Francois Rigaud, before enrolling at the Académie Royale in Rome on a scholarship. This scholarship enabled him to spend extended periods in Venice, Naples, and Rome, where he was taught for several months by the noted Baroque painter Andrea Cellesti. In 1707, Pesne's full-length portrait of the Prussian envoy in Venice, Baron von Knyphausen, attracted the attention of Frederick I of Prussia, who appointed him court portraitist to succeed the Dutchman Augustin Terwesten. This prestigious position was to have a lasting impact on his influence and importance to European court painting. Through his position at the Prussian court he met the architect Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff in the 1730s, with whom he undertook the artistic design of Rheinsberg, Charlottenburg, Sanssouci and Potsdam City Palace. His lifelong patron King Frederick financed his house at Oberwallstrasse 3 in Berlin, where he lived until his death on August 5, 1757. Pesne was not only highly esteemed by his contemporaries. His reputation and his services to the Prussian state prompted the magistrate of Berlin, even 150 years after his death, to place a memorial plaque on the late painter's house in 1902, which is no longer preserved today. Historians assume that it was melted down during the Second World War for the purpose of weapons production. Currently, Pesne's works can be found in the collections of institutions such as the Charlottenburg, Rheinsberg and Sanssouci palaces, as well as in many German museums.
Pesne's distinctive stylistic qualities include a soft discreet application of paint that seems to anticipate the Impressionist works of Pierre-August Renoir, and his ability to place the portrayed aristocrats in a larger context of meaning through allegorical and mythological allusions.
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.jpg "Friedrich Wilhelm I, King of Prussia by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "King Frederick I of Prussia by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Elisabeth Christine von Braunschweig as Queen by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, 1725 by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia by Antoine Pesne")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-574610).jpg "Portrait of Jean Mariette by Antoine Pesne")
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 1746 - (MeisterDrucke-67534).jpg "King Frederick II the Great of Prussia by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Founding of the Order of the Black Eagle by Antoine Pesne")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-95461).jpg "The Crown Prince Frederick II in his Corps de Cadets (uniform of the Kings Regiment) by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Nature Study for a Naked and Seated Girl by Antoine Pesne")
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_(Portret_mczyzny_w_peruce_i_z_orde_-_(MeisterDrucke-1562528).jpg "Friedrich Wilhelm Kettler (1692–1711) (Portrait of a Man in a Wig with the Black Eagle Order) by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin on Horseback, 1750 by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Self-Portrait with Daughters Henriette Royard and Marie de Rège in Front of the Easel by Antoine Pesne")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1555133).jpg "Friedrich II by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Frederick II as King by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of Queen of Prussia Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Bevern (1715-1797) by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Frederick the Great as Crown Prince by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of a Gentleman, Said to be August William, Half Length, Wearing a Blue Jacket, White Shirt, and Armour Breast Plate by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of Frederick II of Hohenzollern, known as Frederick the Great by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, 1725 by Antoine Pesne")
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_Peinture_de_Antoine_-_(MeisterDrucke-1325677).jpg "Portrait of the Jeweler Johann Melchior Dinglinger by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Friedrich II, King of Prussia, engraved by Georg Friedrich Schmidt, 1746 by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of Johanna-Elizabeth, Electress of Anhalt-Zerbst, c.1746 by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "King Frederick I on the silver throne by Antoine Pesne")
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_after_1733_(oil_on_canvas)_-_(MeisterDrucke-1517340).jpg "Friedrich Wilhelm I: King of Prussia (1688-1740) by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Frederick the Great by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Crown Prince Frederick II with his sister Wilhelmine by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of Adolph Frederick by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Franz Isaak von Chasot by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Crown Prince Frederick II, 1728 by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Graf von Schwerin by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of Frederick William I of Prussia by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Friedrich Wilhelm I, King in Prussia and as Friedrich Wilhelm II Elector and Margrave of Brandenburg by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of Ursule-Anne Dubuisson by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of Adolph Frederick, Crown Prince of Sweden by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of Frederick II of Prussia by Antoine Pesne")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-695995).jpg "Portrait of Frederick I of Prussia (1657-1713) by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Frederick the Great by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of Johanna-Elizabeth, Electress of Anhalt-Zerbst by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Diana and her Nymphs Bathing, 1747 by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of Field Marshal James Keith by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of Stanislaw I Leszczynski by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Prince Augustus William by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Madame Marte de Rocoulle by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of Louisa Ulrika of Prussia, Queen of Sweden by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of Baron von Erlach with his family by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Crown Princess Elisabeth Christine of Prussia by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of Louisa Ulrika of Prussia by Antoine Pesne")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1562577).jpg "Portrait of Heinrich Voguell (1681–?) by Antoine Pesne")
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_mit_Maske_in_der_Ha_-_(MeisterDrucke-697500).jpg "Portrait of Luise Ulrike Princess of Prussia (1720-1782) with Mask in Hand by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of Goldsmith Johann Melchior Dinglinger by Johann Georg Wolffgang")
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.jpg "Portrait of Dorothea Luise os Wittenhorst-Sonsfeld, 1681-1746 by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Lot and His Daughters by Antoine Pesne")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1562519).jpg "Portrait of Friedrich Ernst von Knyphausen (1678–1731) by Antoine Pesne")
_-_(MeisterDrucke-1562519).jpg)
_and_His_Nephew_Frederick_William_II_(1744-97)_engraved_by_-_(MeisterDrucke-115122).jpg "Frederick II and His Nephew Frederick William II, Engraved by Johann Probst by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Gypsy Fortuneteller by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Barbara Campanini by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Lady Playing a Spinet and a Flautist by Antoine Pesne")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1273523).jpg "Portrait of a Painter (presumably C. L. Agricola, 1667-1719) by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Crown Princess Elisabeth Christine von Preussen, c.1735 by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, 1903 by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of Johanna-Elizabeth, Electress of Anhalt-Zerbst, Mother of Catherine II by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Prince Augustus William Aged Four, 1734 by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Count Friedrich Heinrich von Seckendorf by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Gustav Adolf Graf von Gotter and his Niece Friederike von Wangenheum in Pilgrim Costumes by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of Countess Anna Elisabeth von der Schulenburg by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Prince Friedrich Ludwig in a Garden Cart by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of Johanna Charlotte of Anhalt-Dessau by Johann Georg Wolffgang")
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.jpg "Crown Prince Frederick II, c.1740 by Antoine Pesne")
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 als Amazone - (MeisterDrucke-652574).jpg "Princess Amalie of Prussia (1723-1787) as an Amazon by Antoine Pesne")
 als Amazone - (MeisterDrucke-652574).jpg)
_-_(MeisterDrucke-1562520).jpg "Portrait of Friedrich Ernst von Knyphausen (1678–1731) by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of Johann Melchior Dinglinger by Antoine Pesne")
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 engraved by Johann Esaias Nilson (1721-88) - (MeisterDrucke-50497).jpg "Portrait of Frederick II (1712-86), Engraved by Johann Esaias Nilson (1721-88) by Antoine Pesne")
 engraved by Johann Esaias Nilson (1721-88) - (MeisterDrucke-50497).jpg)
.jpg "Portrait of the Jeweller Johann Melchior Dinglinger, c1721 by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Frederick II, Crown Prince with Order by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of Wilhelmine Dorothee von der Marwitz by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "The Crown Prince Frederick II, c.1736 by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of Frederick II of Brandenburg, known as the Great by Antoine Pesne")
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_mit_seiner_Gemahli_-_(MeisterDrucke-1562531).jpg "Portrait of the Hereditary Prince Friedrich Ludwig of Württemberg and his wife Henriette Marie of Brandenburg-Schwedt by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Karl-Heinrich Graun and his wife Anna-Louise by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Frederick the Great and Wilhelmine / Pesne 1714 by Antoine Pesne")
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_Abbess_of_Quedlinburg_c1744_(oil_on_canvas)_-_(MeisterDrucke-1641427).jpg "Anna Amalia of Prussia, Abbess of Quedlinburg, c.1744 by Antoine Pesne")
_Abbess_of_Quedlinburg_c1744_(oil_on_canvas)_-_(MeisterDrucke-1641427).jpg)
.jpg "Portrait of Frederick II of Prussia by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Lot and His Daughters by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of the Marchese Paolo Corbelli, full-length, Seated on a Bank at the Edge of a Wood by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Christian Louis Brandenburg by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of Baron von Erlach with his Family, c1710 by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Schwedt by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of Adolph Frederick, 1710-1771, Crown Prince of Sweden by Antoine Pesne")
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_Margravine_of_Brandenburg-Bayreuth_-_-_(MeisterDrucke-995131).jpg "Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia, Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth by Antoine Pesne")
_Margravine_of_Brandenburg-Bayreuth_-_-_(MeisterDrucke-995131).jpg)
.jpg "Nicolas Vleughels, Painter by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Four Types of Roses by Antoine Pesne")
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 Presented to Minerva 1735 - (MeisterDrucke-106297).jpg "Jean-Philippe Baratier Presented to Minerva, 1735 by Antoine Pesne")
 Presented to Minerva 1735 - (MeisterDrucke-106297).jpg)
.jpg "Friedrich Hoffmann, engraved by F.G Wolffgang by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of Frederick II of Prussia 1712-1786 as Crown Prince, 1739 by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Johanna Elizabeth, Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Portrait of the Engraver Georg Friedrich Schmidt and His Wife Dorothea Luise, née Videbant by Antoine Pesne")
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.jpg "Field Marshal Jacob von Keith by Antoine Pesne")
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