Auction on
11 March 2022 - 14:30 (CET) -
Salle 4 - Hôtel Drouot - 75009
There are painters who evince little liking for feminine charms—as roundly demonstrated by the fine Rigaud retrospective at the Château de Versailles—and those who beautify their models. And princesses de sang royal (princesses of royal blood) were placed in the top rank of Olympian goddesses by Jean-Marc Nattier.
Jean Marc Nattier (Paris 1685-1766), Presumed Portrait of Philippine Elisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans, known as Mademoiselle de Beaujolais (1714-1734), canvas, 113 x 145.6 cm/44.5 x 57.3 in. Estimate: €150,000/200,000
Jean Marc Nattier (Paris 1685-1766), Presumed Portrait of Philippine Elisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans, known as Mademoiselle de Beaujolais (1714-1734), canvas, 113 x 145.6 cm/44.5 x 57.3 in. Estimate: €150,000/200,000
The fleurs-de-lys are both indicative and deceptive. In the 1730s, Jean-Marc Nattier (1685-1766) was the preferred painter for a swarm of French princesses of royal blood. None of the daughters of Louis XIV and Queen Marie Thérèse survived, but the Sun King also had two daughters from his liaison with Madame de Montespan. They were legitimized and married to highly distinguished French princes, and in turn, became mothers to princesses with very similar features. Nattier is reputed to have painted the daughters of Louise-Françoise de Bourbon, known as "Mademoiselle de Nantes", wife of Louis III de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, and Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, known as "the Second Mademoiselle de Blois", wife of Philippe d'Orléans. The granddaughters of Madame de Montespan often seem as alike as two peas in a pod, and this has caused problems for art historians.…
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