Pierre GOBERT (1662-1744) Presumed portrait of... Lot 38

Pierre GOBERT (1662-1744) Presumed portrait of Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans (1695-1719), Duchess of Berry Canvas. 115 x 90 cm The very recent exhibition at Versailles Les animaux du Roi presented two portraits of children by Pierre Gobert that we can relate to this one: Louise-Marie de France (1728-1733), the third daughter of Louis XV and Marie Leszczynska, pose next to the same cage from which two white turtle-doves escape through the open trapdoor, bearing good omens: the Treaty of Seville has just been signed in 1729 and the Queen has given birth to a Dauphin. François de Lorraine, on the other hand, is holding a small monkey similar to the one speaking here and could well come to thwart the good omens. (See [Expo. Versailles, 2021-2022] Les animaux du Roi, cat. p. 226 and 231, repr. p. 383 and 387, notes by Gwenola Firmin and Thierry Franz). The blue coat with ermine lining of our model indicates her rank of duchess or princess.