Portrait of Louise Françoise, Duchess of Bourbon C.1690; Circle of Pierre Gobert (1662-1744)

Portrait of Louise Françoise, Duchess of Bourbon c.1690

Circle of Pierre Gobert (1662-1744)

Presented in an exquisite 17th century gilded frame, carved with acorns and foliage, this striking example of court portraiture is a vibrant example of a young royal, successfully capturing both her regality and childhood candour. Louise Françoise de Bourbon, Duchess of Bourbon (1673-1743) was the eldest surviving legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France. She was a renowned beauty and had an ability to please everyone she met. Gobert enjoyed a pleasant monopoly of painting courtly and aristocratic ladies comprising a distinguishable style of ideal beauty at the time.

The birth of Louise Françoise de Bourbon took place not at a royal residence or glittering château. Instead, Louise Françoise was born in Tournai where her parents were on a military tour. The little girl was the illegitimate daughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan. Louise Françoise was placed in the care of the then rather unknown Madame Scarron (the later Madame de Maintenon). When she was just six months old her prospects were greatly improved when her father decided to legitimise his children by his mistress, she became known as Mademoiselle de Nantes at court.

During her early childhood Louise Françoise's closest friend was her younger sister, Mademoiselle de Tours. The two girls lived closely together with Madame Scarron and in 1681 Mademoiselle de Tours died which left Louise Françoise devastated.

At the age of 11 years old Louise Françoise was wed to Louis de Bourbon, Duc de Bourbon in 1685 and she became Duchesse de Bourbon or simply Madame la Duchesse.

Louise Françoise harboured a gnawing jealousy of her younger sisters and in 1692 her youngest sister – Françoise Marie – married the only son of the King's brother. This meant that Françoise Marie now outranked her elder sister and their open rivalry only worsened over the years especially when Françoise Marie became Madame la Princesse on the death of her father-in-law. Originally, it was Louise Françoise who should have inherited that title but on the death of Louise Françoise's father-in-law the title was transferred to the House of Orlèans. Louise Françoise once again felt cheated.

She began a hardly secret affair (just three years after her sister's wedding) with Françoise Louis de Bourbon, Prince de Conti, which might be seen more as an affront to her other half-sister (Marie Anne) whose brother-in-law the Prince de Conti was. Her husband was enraged but refrained from taking actions against his wife due to her being the King's daughter. She did find support in the Dauphin, though, and he would let the lovers use his estate of Meudon as a meeting place.

Meanwhile, Louise Françoise's marriage had produced three children. It was widely supposed that the daughter she gave birth to was fathered by the Prince de Conti. Her husband needed not worry about lacking heirs. Upon his death in 1710 the couple had had eight children.

Louise Françoise had become rather close friends with the Dauphin and as the King grew older and weaker, she eyed an opportunity to stay close to the throne. Those hopes were shattered shortly afterwards when the Dauphin died unexpectedly. Once again it would seem that fate was against Louise Françoise when the new heirs to the throne became the Duc and Duchesse de Bourgogne. Louise Françoise and the new Dauphine were bitter enemies and the former shed no tears when the Dauphine died just two years later. When the King, her father, died the Duc d'Orlèans (the brother-in-law) was chosen as a replacement and this fuelled the fire between Louise Françoise and Françoise Marie – the latter was now the highest-ranking lady in all of France.

Pierre Gobert (1662-1744) was a French painter. Gobert trained with his father, a sculptor, and was working as a court portraitist in 1682, at the age of twenty. In 1701 he was accepted as a candidate member and

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