Presumed Portrait of Marie-Anne-Victoire de Bourbon, Pierre Gobert's Studio

Presumed Portrait of Marie-Anne-Victoire de Bourbon, fiancée of Louis XV between 1722 and 1725, workshop of Pierre Gobert, circa 1725.

This charming young princess is portrayed sitting near a rock in a park, dressed in an elegant pale pink satin dress, embellished with silver thread embroidery and a yoke and lace apron embroidered with silver threads decorated with flowers and windings. The brilliance of the satin and the sparkling silver threads in the folds of her loose dress show the refinement of this high-ranking child. She wears small shoes in ivory silk with pointed ends.
His head slightly turned three quarters, gracefully raised in a way to look at the viewer high, our model sketches a slight smile showing his small teeth. His big blue eyes with the mischievous look but full of dignity and magnificence proper to his status. Her powdered, tied hair, with a few curls escaping from her bun, is adorned with flowers, including a rosebud which allegorically evokes the youth and freshness of the princess.
She leans her right arm on the open cage and gracefully raises her left arm showing the fine lace that adorns her sleeves. She gently squeezes between her fingers the string tied around a bird's leg that spreads its wings and is about to fly.
The cat with eyes dilated by lust stands hidden in the folds of the dress and as a predator ready to leap hangs his paw on the fabric.
Thus the bird is faced with a dilemma: leave the cage and fly for freedom at the risk of being devoured because the presence of the cat jeopardizes any attempt to escape.
The bird is a symbol of innocence and the cat symbolizes the predator, its presence here is a deaf threat that reminds that the enchantments of childhood have only one time, once become adult the person will be free to act, but will be confronted with many dangers. The cage thus has a protective function against the dangers of the outside world.
By employing warm, soft light and a pastel color palette such as the pale pink dress, the painter creates an evocative ambience of peaceful, unperturbed childhood.
The skilful treatment of the fabrics and their modeling as well as a play of light in the drapes bring to the table dynamism and lightness, while the graceful posture of the girl, the gestures of her hands accentuate the elegance and the charm of the artwork. The painter plunges us into the atmosphere of childish indifference.

Our painting is presented in its sumptuous original eighteenth century gilt wood frame and carved.

Dimensions: canvas: h. 100 cm, l. 78 cm, framed: h. 125 cm, l. 103 cm.

Very good condition, the setting redore.
 

Marie Anne Victory of Spain,
born in Madrid on March 31, 1718, daughter of Philip V of Spain and Elizabeth Farnese.
She is engaged to Louis XV following the negotiations of the Regent and Philip XV to establish peace between France and Spain. It is exchanged in 1722 against the daughter of the Regent, Miss de Monpensier.
His education in France is entrusted by the regent to his sister-in-law and first cousin the first princess dowager of Conti, princess of the blood, legitimate daughter of the late King Louis XIV and the Duchess of La Vallière. She is brought up by Madame de Ventadour, former governess of Louis XV.
Very pretty, full of charm, the little "Infanta Queen", as well as the court and with it all France calls it, is the delight of the court. She strives to please her "husband" who, far too young to be interested in a "doll", sulking. However in 1725, given the fragile health of the young king, and the need to have descendants to secure the throne, the engagement is broken and the little "queen" of 7 years is returned.
Back in Spain, she married King Joseph I of Portugal in 1729 and became queen and then regent of Portugal. She died in Lisbon on January 15, 1781.

Pierre Gobert (Fontainebleau, 1662 - Paris, 1744)

Born into a family of artists, Pierre Gobert began working at a very young age for the court. From 1682, he received the order of the Portrait of the Duke of Burgundy a few weeks old (lost), first of a long list of portraits of children, a genre in which Gobert excelled the most. Accredited at the Royal Academy in 1686, Pierre Gobert was concerned about his reception, exceptional fact, only fifteen years later. It is true that already overloaded with orders, his career as a portrait painter, especially in Munich for the Bavarian court, probably left him little time. From 1707, Gobert worked for the court of Lorraine where he had been called by the Duke Leopold. During this visit, he paints an impressive number of portraits that imply the existence of a workshop. Back in Paris he works very regularly for the Court realizing the portraits of the p…