Portrait of Louise-marie of France C.1748; Circle of Jean-marc Nattier (1685-1766), Oil on Canvas Painting

Conformity rather than individuality was a hallmark of Nattier’s enormous success portraying French aristocratic women: his portraits represent contrasting ivory skin and bright blush, powdered hair and soft features set against warm landscapes. Between 1730 and 1760, the period which marked Nattier's rise to prominence, he espoused two models for his portraits of women at Versailles and in wealthy Paris society. He showed these clients either in court or formal costume (a lace or elaborately embroidered dress with an oval neckline, narrow sleeves to the elbow, and a tight, pointed bodice), or, in accordance with his own preference, he painted them in loose, low-cut draperies and in allegorical guise. In either case they usually wore their short hair lightly powdered and ornamented with flowers. Nattier's preferred colours in addition to white were blue, ivory, and red, and his shiny fabrics look like satin. He used three formats, bust, three-quarter, and as here, half-length.

This remarkable work represents a young Louise-Marie of France (1737-1787), known as Madame Louise de France, daughter of Louis XV, in a court dress and ermine stole, holding a pink carnation. Nattier served as official portraitist to the four daughters of Louis XV from 1745, painting those young ladies in innumerable guises and pursuits. This work has been exquisitely rendered and is a fine example of mid-18th century portraiture.

Madame Louise was born at Versailles on 15 July 1737, the youngest of the ten children of Louis XV and Maria Leszczynska. The four youngest princesses, Victoire, Sophie, Thérèse, and Louise were sent to be raised at the Abbaye de Fontevraud. In the spring of 1748, her elder sister Victoire successfully asked permission to return to court, and in November 1750, Louise was allowed to return as well.

Madame Louise was described as lively, intelligent, talkative, and haughty, and as she never married, she became a part of the group of the four unmarried princesses referred to collectively as Mesdames de France at court. She entered the Carmelite convent at Saint-Denis in 1770 and is venerated by the Roman Catholic Church. She died on 23 December 1787 in Saint-Denis, shortly before the French Revolution which deposed her family from the throne.

This portrait achieves a balance between individual likeness and a generalised idealisation of feminine beauty, rendered with a technical refinement and delicacy of detail. Held in a good quality antique frame.

Jean Marc Nattier, was born in Paris in 1685, and trained with his father and with Jean Jouvenet (1649–1717). As early as 1700 he won a prize for drawing at the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture. Although he was received in 1718 as a history painter, Nattier specialised in portraiture, and in the same year had painted Peter the Great and his consort during their visit to Holland. He developed a style that was both naturalistic and ingratiating, often presenting his sitters in allegorical guise. By 1740 he had achieved success in society and was taken up at court, where he took sittings from the younger daughters of Louis XV (1710–1774) and from the Queen, Marie Leszczynska (1703–1768). Nattier exhibited regularly at the Salon between 1737 and 1763.

18th century works by Nattier’s followers have achieved $33,216 at auction - Portrait de Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson (1722-1764), marquise de Pompadour, en Diane, 1748, 122.1 x 97.5 cm (Christie's Paris April 27, 2021 [Lot 193]) – and autograph works have achieved $1,152,860 - Portrait of Marie-Geneviève Boudrey, represented as a muse, 1752, 121 x 96 cm (Sotheby's London December 5, 2007 [Lot 65]).

Provenance: Private UK Collection

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