Roy Precious - Antiques & Fine Art has dated this piece to the 18th Century.
Based very closely on the 17th century portrait by Pierre Mignard (the only major difference being the left arm), this is an 18th century small scale portrait of one of the most famous lovers of Louis XIV.
LOUISE DE LA VALLIERE (Françoise Louise de La Baume Le Blanc; 6 August 1644 – 7 June 1710) was a mistress of Louis XIV of France from 1661 to 1667. She later became the Duchess of La Vallière and Duchess of Vaujours in her own right.
Louise was born in Tours, the daughter of an officer, Laurent de La Baume Le Blanc (who took the name of La Vallière from a small estate near Amboise) and Françoise Le Provost. Laurent de La Vallière died in 1651; his widow remarried in 1655, to Jacques de Courtarvel, Marquis de Saint-Rémy, and joined the court of Gaston, Duke of Orléans, at Blois.
Louise was brought up with the younger princesses (the future Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Duchess of Alençon, and Duchess of Savoy), the half-sisters of La Grande Mademoiselle. After the death of Gaston, Duke of Orléans, his widow moved with her daughters to the Luxembourg Palace in Paris and took the sixteen-year-old Louise with them.
Louise had been at Fontainebleau only two months when she and Louis XIV fell in love, becoming the king's mistress. It was Louise's first serious attachment and she was reportedly an innocent, religious-minded girl who initially brought neither coquetry nor self-interest to their secret relationship. She was not extravagant and was not interested in money or titles that could come from her situation; she wanted only the King's love. She bore the king five children.
By 1667 Louis had tired of her and taken other mistresses; after much pleading to the monarch she was finally permitted to enter the Carmelite convent in the Faubourg Saint-Jacques in Paris under the name of Sister Louise of Mercy. She died, a nun, in 1710.
PIERRE MIGNARD (1612-1695) was a member of a family of artists, he was a painter in the classical French Baroque manner, known primarily for his court portraits.
In 1635 Mignard left the studio of Simon Vouet for Italy, where he spent 22 years and made a reputation that brought him a summons to Paris in 1657. Successful with his portrait of Louis XIV and in favour with the court, Mignard pitted himself against Charles Le Brun; he declined to enter the French Royal Academy, of which Le Brun was the head, and he organized the opposition to its authority.
Mignard was chiefly active in portraiture; many of the beauties and celebrities of his day sat for him, including Molière, the Viscount de Turenne, Jacques Bossuet, the Marquise de Maintenon, the Marquise de Sévigné, the Duchesse de La Valliere and the Marquise de Montespan. His skilful technique and graceful arrangements are noteworthy.
SIZE: 21 x 15.25 inches inc. frame.
PROVENANCE: Nottinghamshire private collection.
Roy Precious - Antiques & Fine Art has dated this piece to the 18th Century.
Roy and nadine precious: specialists in portraiture from the 16th to the 20th century. Established in 1972.
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Portrait of Louise De La Valliere; Follower of Pierre Mignard.
