François de Troy (1645-1730)

This portrait of Claude Le Blanc (1669-1728) reveals early 18th-century customs.

The Rouen museum, recently the victim of a theft (see below), yesterday preempted, for €11,500, a portrait in armor of Henri-Jacques Nompar de Caumont, Duke of La Force, a fervent defender of Law's system during The Regency. The institution already holds the study of the armor, formerly attributed to Hyacinthe Rigaud.

The curator at the Château de Fontainebleau since 2016 has no shortage of plans, from restorations to exhibitions and promoting the legacy of François I.

Painted when the artist was not yet famous, this seaside subject puts people at the center of the composition.

This nightmarish vision of a blazing Troy borders on the sublime. The subject, highly popular with Flemish collectors in the 17th century and treated here with disturbing eeriness by the artist, echoes very real ancestral fears.

A specialist in the 18th century, but curious about other eras, François Hayem is parting with the fruit of a lifetime of research and finds at Drouot.

The allure of this painting—with its hidden double meaning—is a marvellous illustration of chinoiserie in the age of Louis XV, which took delight in fantasizing about Asia.

Although only attributed to him, this painting achieved a considerable price, closer to that of an original by the artist.

Bronzes by great modern sculptors had a central place in this sale, where 18th-century vedutismo also took the spotlight.

The prince of Rococo will be present at Rouillac's 33rd Garden Party sale at the Château d'Artigny, in the Val-de-Loire, with a major discovery: La Petite Laitière (The Little Milkmaid), painted a year before his death.