Portrait of lady - Nicolas de Largillière (1656-1746) circa 1695

Nicolas de Largillière (Paris, 1656-1746)
Portrait of a woman, circa 1695
Oil on canvas: h. 80 cm, l. 62 cm
Important Louis XIV period gilt wood and richly carved frame
Framed: h. 107 cm, l. 92 cm

Provenance: former collection of the Duchess of Berry (Marie-Caroline de Bourbon-Siciles (1798-1870)) at the Vendramini Palace in Venice, (the mark of her collection on the back of the canvas), her sale in 1865 in Paris.

We would like to thank Mr. Dominique Brême, director of the Domaine Départemental de Sceaux museum and specialist of Nicolas de Largillièrre, for kindly confirming the attribution to the artist and the date around 1695 through an examination in person of this portrait which he will include in his catalog raisonné currently being prepared.
Our portrait from the prestigious princely collection dazzles with its bright colors and its tight framing format. The strong lighting typical of Nicolas de Largillière draws the eye to the dazzling face and costume of this majestic aristocrat who unfortunately remained anonymous.
The face seen from the front, the body turned in three quarters, the young woman is portrait half-length revealing her thin belted waist.
The elongated face with rosy cheeks, almond-shaped eyes, straight nose and determined chin, solemn expression, the young woman sketches a half-smile which highlights the dimple on her chin.
Styled “à la Fontange”, her hair is pulled up and tied with a gold embroidered ribbon, the two curls frame the forehead and the mass of curly locks fall on her back and shoulders. A pearl jewel is housed in her high bun.
She is dressed in a red velvet dress over a white shirt whose gold-embroidered lace is revealed at the bodice and sleeves.
A blue velvet coat with angular folds envelops her face in a vigorous movement passing over his left shoulder and under his right arm.
Velvet, a noble material par excellence, is widely used in portraits for its visual properties: the angles created by the formation of drapes modify the inclination of the fibers against the grain, the light is reflected more on the surface and therefore creates reflections clear and shiny. Working the fabric in impasto, Nicolas de Largillière allows spectators to feel the softness of velvet through illuminated white ridges. This color brushed in pure lapis is found on many portraits of Largillierre in particular the portrait of Mademoiselle de La Fayette, 1697 (château de Parentignat) or that of Madame Charles-Léonor Aubry and her son Léonor, circa 1699-1700 (Minneapolis, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts).

In our portrait, the fiery tones of the red velvet of the dress clash with the icy reflections of the blue velvet. By juxtaposing opposing colors, the painter accentuates the contrast. This breathtaking effect testifies to the great ingenuity of Nicolas de Largillière, this daring handling of the palette in the wake of Antoine Van Dyck.
This extremely intense chromatic range contrasts with the sober background of the classic landscape with its darkened blue sky.
The almost electric light of the theatrical staging accentuates the whiteness of the complexions, the shine of the fabrics and the sparkle of the jewelry and gold embroidery.
The virtuosity of the painter strikes in the treatment of fabrics, the spontaneity in the rendering of texture, the determined brushstrokes with fine and precise lines, broken by fiery serifs.
Faithful to his talent as a prodigious portraitist, Nicolas de Largillière admirably succeeds in reflecting in this portrait the splendor and opulence of the reign of Louis XIV.

Princely provenance:
The Duchess of Berry had assembled a fabulous art gallery in the Vendramin Calergi palace, one of the most beautiful in Venice which she had purchased in 1844. To the paintings by Venetian masters already present in the palace, she added her own collections brought by French masters and completed the decoration with a large number of paintings acquired subsequently.
Economic difficulties due to political instability forced the Duchess to sell her collection at auction in Paris in April 1865, and the palace passed to Chambord, son of the Duchess.

Nicolas de Largillière (Paris, 1656-1746)
Nicolas de Largilliere, born October 2, 1656 in Paris, where he died March 20, 1746, is a French painter. Of Flemish origin although born in Paris, he spent his childhood in Antwerp apprenticed to the landscape painter Antoine Goubau. In 1673 he went to England where he worked as an assistant in the studio of the portrait painter Peter Lely for several years. Largillierre discovered the art of portraiture in London and assimilated the beautiful lessons of Antoine van Dyck's British successor. On his return to France he was approved by the Royal Academy in 1683 and was received three years later as a “painter of portraits and history” upon presentation of the Portrait of Charles Le Brun.
He is one of the most renowned portrait painters of the 17th and 18th centuries. Nicolas de Largillière's long career spanned the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV, during which he established himself as a leading portraitist. His female effigies, in particular, are striking for their introspective character and their decorative richness.