This magnificent new volume presents works of art from the fabled collection of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (1674-1723)—including masterpieces by Raphael, Titian, Veronese, Correggio, Poussin, Rubens, and Rembrandt—bringing them together for the first time since the collection’s sale and dispersal more than two hundred years ago. In this book a representative group of nearly forty works—paintings, books, engravings, and portraits—tell the story of the collection's formation and exceptional character, focusing on such themes as the importance of the collection in the duke’s lifetime; the art market in early eighteenth-century Paris; the display of the collection in public and private spaces; and its widespread fame and resulting impact on visitors and contemporary artists and collectors in Paris.

This volume is both a celebration of the tricentennial of the city of New Orleans, as well as being a major contribution to art historical scholarship and is of great interest to art historians and collectors, as well as to the general public. The volume is structured to maximize scholarly interest, publish new research and consolidate what is known about Phillippe II’s collection, one of the greatest private collections of Western art ever assembled.

It features contributions by an international array of leading scholars, including Françoise Mardrus, Louvre Museum; Nicole Garnier-Pelle, Musée Condé; Alexandre Dupilet, author and historian; Xavier Salomon, The Frick Collection; Rachel McGarry, Minneapolis Institute of Art; Julia Armstrong-Totten, formerly of the Getty Provenance Index; Jean-François Bédard of Syracuse University; and Kelsey Brosnan, curatorial fellow for European Art at New Orleans Museum of Art.