François Tortebat

Engraving of François Tortebat by Gérard Edelinck after a portrait by Roger de Piles, late 17th or early 18th century (Metropolitan Museum of Art).

François Tortebat (c. 1616 - 4 June 1690) was a French portrait painter and engraver.

He was born into a family of artisans and artists from Paris. Around 1631 he joined the studio of Simon Vouet, later (in 1643) also marrying his eldest daughter Francoise, with whom he had twenty-nine children. He is recorded as being in Rome between around 1635 and 1640, making large copies of Raphael's tapestries as the result of a commission from cardinal Antonio Barberini. He rejoined Vouet's studio on his return to France, becoming a 'painter and valet to the king's chamber' by 1643.

After his teacher's death he collaborated with Vouet's other son-in-law Michel Dorigny, gaining exclusive rights to reproduce Vouet's works in print form, designing the sets for Louis XIV's return to Paris with his new wife Maria Theresa of Spain in 1660 and the paintings for the Grand Salon of Paris' Hôtel de la Rivière. He became a member of the Academie Royale in 1663 - his academy piece was a portrait of Vouet. He also published a set of etching after the Caracci brothers' Palazzo Magnani paintings in Bologna and in 1688 Abrégé d'Anatomie. He died in Paris.