Jacques-François-Leonor de Matignon (1689-1751), who took the throne as Jacques I, "pièce rapportée dans la dynastie Grimaldi", created a great picture Gallery ; he also moved part of the Monegasque collections to his house of Passy and Torigni, particularly though to his magnificent Parisian mansion, the Hotel de Matignon. He overcame the Italianate taste of his predecessors, showing to be deeply broadminded towards Europe and really passionate for Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, prince of the Dutch painters of the Golden age. About twenty Rembrandt's paintings were found in inventories and records of the Archives, either originals or copies. The purpose of this article is to introduce the splendid Self-portrait, the charming Portrait of a man holding gloves, in the Metropolitan Museum of New York, the Portrait of a man in a board brimmed hat, in the Japanese Kawamura Mémorial Museum of Art, the mysterious Jewess (Christie's London) and the Admiral Cornelis Tromp from the Louvre Museum. (full text in French)

The great charm of Peter Paul Rubens, the painter of the Seventeenth-century European courts, could not be grabbed by the Grimaldi House: Honoré II inventories include some paintings attributed to him, while Antoine I requested the Monegasque painter Jean-Augustin Vento for some copies of his celebrated Maria de Medici Cycle. Anyway his most passionate admirer was Jacques I: among the paintings attributed to the Flemish master in his possession, we can find the so-called Le fils de Paul Rubens, a beautiful portrait so far preserved. The painting, currently at the Städel Museum in Frankfurt, is now attributed to Cornelis de Vos, a great Flemish portraitist and also Rubens collaborator. It is identified as the portrait of his daughter Susanna. (full text in French)