A Princess of Royal Blood Glorified by Jean-Marc Nattier

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.…