Offered by Galerie Nicolas Lenté
16th to 18th century furniture, paintings and works of art
Presumed portrait of Françoise Marie de Bourbon as a child
Attributed to Pierre Mignard (Troyes 1612-Paris 1695)
17th century French School, circa 1685
Oil on canvas, dimensions: h. 100 cm, w. 80 cm
Important Louis XIV period giltwood frame with flowered corners.
Dimensions with frame: h. 122 cm, l. 102 cm
Lovely and delicious, this little princess appeals to us with her mischievous air and her beautiful finery, the flamboyant coquetry out of step with her very young age.
The young model is portrayed at around 7 or 8 years old, but according to court customs and the tradition of ceremonial portraits, she is sumptuously dressed by virtue of her rank as the king's natural daughter. A gold-colored damask dress fringed with gold thread, ultramarine blue satin sleeves and a purplish stole draped around her figure underlines the importance of her person. Her dark brown hair, styled in the Fontanges style, is partially up, held by a pink ribbon and adorned with a few flowers, falling over her shoulders in graceful curls.
Sitting on a small stool, she leans on a gilded wooden folding table, whose seat covered in green velvet is fringed with gold. A red velvet cushion with gold thread pompoms is placed on this folding to better accommodate the young princess. A parrot is placed on her hand, while the young girl indicates it to the viewer by the gesture of her right hand.
The parrot, for its part, evokes the purity and innocence of the child. Parrots are particularly appreciated at Court for the beauty of their plumage and their language abilities.
The pose and composition of the portrait we're offering bring us to the portrait of Mademoiselle de Tours, painted by Mignard between 1681-1682. The sumptuous clothing is also reminiscent of works by Mignard such as the portrait of the Duchess of Portsmouth whose clothes are almost identical.
Related works:
• Louise-Marie de Bourbon, known as Mademoiselle de Tours, Pierre Mignard, between 1681 and 1682, oil on canvas (132 cm x 96 cm), Palace of Versailles, inv. MV 3624
• Louise de Kéroualle by Pierre Mignard, 1682, oil on canvas (120.7 cm x 95.3 cm), inv. NPG 497 (National Portrait Gallery), London
Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, known as “the Second Mademoiselle of Blois”, born May 4, 1677, at the Château de Maintenon, died February 1, 1749, in Saint-Cloud, legitimized daughter of France, by her marriage Duchess of Chartres and Duchess of Orléans, was a natural daughter that Louis XIV had secretly from the Marquise de Montespan.
Louis XIV gave as husband to Françoise-Marie, on February 18, 16923, his nephew Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Chartres, future Regent. They had eight children.
Pierre Mignard
French painter (Troyes 1612-Paris 1695). A student of Vouet, he worked in Italy, especially in Rome, from 1635 to 1657, before joining Paris at the request of Louis XIV; he then executed several commissions, such as the dome of Val-de-Grâce (1663). A renowned portraitist, he knew how to flatter the model, but also mix expression and grace in light and fresh tones, the opposite of the majesty of Le Brun. On the death of his rival (1690), he succeeded him as first painter to the king and director of the Gobelins factory.
