Jacques Stella (1596-1657), Richelieu's painter Jacques Stella was the only remaining great painter of the reign of Louis XIII and the regency of Anne of Austria, who had not yet been the subject of a monographic exhibition, while excellent retrospectives had been devoted to Simon Vouet, Laurent de La Hyre, Jacques Blanchard, Lubin Baugin, Sébastien Bourdon and Eustache Le Sueur. This project was made possible by research carried out by the Lyon-based art historian Gilles Chomer (1950-2002), who passed away before its completion. His colleague and friend, Sylvain Laveissière, Curator at the Paintings department at the Musée du Louvre, took over the documentation left by Gilles Chomer to complete the work. After its inauguration in Lyon, the painter's birthplace, the people of Toulouse are now being given the opportunity to appreciate the greatness of an artist who was in turn precious, serious and moving. Many of his paintings and a selection of drawings and engravings, as well as drawings and engravings by his niece Claudine Bouzonnet Stella demonstrate the coherence of the oeuvre of this discrete and loyal artist, Richelieu's protégé, and the head of a family of artists.