A life of lines and light Robert Gardelle moved through the centers of European art with a steady, practiced hand. Born in Geneva in 1682 to a family of goldsmiths and painters, his early years were shaped by the precise work of metal and pigment. He traveled to Germany around 1702, finding a place in Kassel under the patronage of Baron Gustav von Mardefeld. In Berlin, he worked alongside his brother Daniel, copying portraits of royal…