Early years Belle was born in Paris, the second child and only son of Jean-Baptiste Belle (born before 1642, died 1703), also a painter, and of Anne his wife (died 1705). Belle's birth and
baptism are recorded in the
parish register of the church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris, and quoted in Eugène Piot's ''Le Cabinet de l'amateur'' for the years 1861 and 1862: Belle studied first under his father, then continued his training in the studio of
François de Troy (1645/46-1730), a painter at the court of
King James II in exile at
Saint-Germain-en-Laye. After war broke out again between Great Britain and France in 1702, their portraits of James Edward Stuart ('The Old Pretender') and his sister the Princess Royal continued to be smuggled across the Channel. Belle did other work for members of the court and for the English Augustinian convent in Paris. This became the standard image of the Old Pretender and was much copied. In an engraving of the painting by François Chéreau, Belle is described as
peintre de S. M. Brit. (painter to His Britannic Majesty). In 1713, Chéreau also engraved a portrait by Belle of Princess Louisa Maria (who had died in 1712) which is now in
Sizergh Castle,
Cumbria. and much of his work was engraved, showing that he had by then a high status in France. He painted Louis XV's one-time fiancée
Mariana Victoria of Spain, whom he later did not marry; he worked also for Jacobites in France, and as late as 1724 signed a portrait of Marie-Charlotte Sobieska (James Edward Stuart's sister-in-law)
pictor regis Britann (painter to the king of Britain). In 1731, Belle made two copies of portraits by David of James Edward Stuart's two young sons, Princes
Charles Edward Stuart and
Henry Benedict Stuart. The Horthemels family, originally from the Netherlands, were followers of the Dutch theologian
Cornelis Jansen and had links with the Parisian abbey of
Port-Royal des Champs, the centre of
Jansenist thought in France. 'Herbet de Ponis' is an error, as Winifred Herbert was the daughter of
Lord Powis.
Death When Belle died in 1734, he was described as "painter to the king in his Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, comptroller of clergy stipends and comptroller of poultry", so his royal connections had evidently led to offices of profit under the crown. ==Works==