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Lefebvre was one of the outstanding portrait painters during the reign of King Louis XIV. He was born at Fontainebleau, where his father was one of the painters involved in the decoration of the palace. In his youth, Claude too worked there in the studio of Claude d’Hoey. He then moved to Paris where he studied with the most prominent painters of the day: Eustace Lesueur in 1654 and Charles Lebrun in 1655. It was Lebrun who encouraged Lefebvre to devote himself to portraiture. Lefebvre was admitted to the Académie Royale in 1663 and was named assistant professor the following year. He is thought to have traveled to England, where he appears to have absorbed lessons from the work of Van Dyck. His painted oeuvre has now become difficult to define, but his work had a reputation for magnificence and is known through prints made by the top reproductive engravers of the time, such as Edelinck and Van Schuppen.
(http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/self-portrait-500377) undefined