Portrait of a Lady, Hélène Ferrand, Marquise De Saint Germain Beaupré C.1675; Studio of Pierre Mignard (1612-1695), Antique Oil Painting on Canvas, Fine Gilded Frame

This sublime work is an outstanding example of French portraiture. Painted circa 1675, it is a type of portrait that was in great demand at the time, as it is now. It abounds with ingenious flourishes and demonstrations of the painter's skill. The rendering of the face is remarkable and a good degree of realism has been achieved, and the sumptious fabrics with their decorative richness have been defined with lightness and dexterity. The sfumato technique imbues the portrait with an air-brushed quality. This portrait is a very elegant example from the period.

The youthful sitter is said to be Hélène Ferrand, Madame de Saint Germain. She was a daughter of a councillor in the parliament of Paris and was wife to Louis Foucault, Marquis de Saint Germain Beaupre. She wears a fine silk dress edged with white lace and a pink scarf fashionably worn around her decolletage, held in place with a large diamond and pearl brooch, tucked at the waist into a belt and falling down to her ankles. France dictated fashions for Western Europe during much of the 17th century and the entirety of the 18th. The pinnacle was at the French court and more notably the Bourbon monarchs (Louis XIV to Louis XVI). France led in this area partly because England was wracked by civil war and Italy’s days of Renaissance glory were over. France developed into the main political and cultural power and from the mid-century European rulers strove to imitate the powerful Sun King. France also became the centre for lace-making and silk and brocade manufacturing and its many goods were in high demand in other European countries.

Mignard enjoyed a monopoly of painting courtly and aristocratic ladies comprising a distinguishable style of ideal beauty at the time. The Mignard Madonna’s were completely the rage and any lady worth her salt wanted her portrait in his style. Woman smiled “Mignardement” and wanted “Mignardse” expression; the word essentially became part of the French language and was used with great frequency.

Madame Saint Germain died when she was only thirty-four years of age between 1681 and 1691.

The elaborate carved and gilded period frame is an outstanding feature and a work of art in itself.

Pierre Mignard, known as le Romain, was a French painter of the court of the French King Louis XIV and was, with Charles Le Brun (1619-90), one of the most successful painters during the reign of Louis XIV. After training in Troyes, where he was born, and in Bourges, Mignard joined the studio of Simon Vouet in Paris in 1627. He went to Italy in 1636 and remained there until 1657. He studied the work of Correggio and Pietro da Cortona in Rome as well as copying Annibale Carracci's frescoes in the Palazzo Farnese. On Le Brun's death in 1690 he succeeded him as its Director and as First Painter to the King painting no less than 10 portraits of the king.

The final years of Mignard's life were marked by honours. In 1687 he was ennobled, and only three years later, Mignard was made First Painter to the King. Because of his rivalry with Charles Le Brun (c.1619-1690) Mignard was unwilling to become a member of the Academy royale de peinture et de sculpture, but when Le Brun died Mignard was simultaneously elected to the posts of Rector, Director, and Chancellor thereby making him the most visible and celebrated artist in France during the last five years of his life.

This painting has passed a strict quality and condition check by a professional conservator prior to going on sale and it can be hung and enjoyed immediately.

Provenance: Private collection France

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