Lot n° 45
Estimation :
1500 - 2000
EUR
FRENCH SCHOOL CIRCA 1700
Portrait of a woman... - Lot 45 - Briscadieu
FRENCH SCHOOL CIRCA 1700
Portrait of a woman on a terrace in front of a landscape
Copper
35 x 27 cm.
(Old restorations).
Gilded frame from the Romantic period.
This is undoubtedly a fashion painting as well as a portrait of a high court figure. This elegant woman is wearing a Fontanges hairstyle (named after Louis XIV's favorite who, while hunting, gathered her curls on her forehead with a garter) - which dates her from between 1675 and 1700. The dress is extremely sumptuous, perhaps predating the austerity that Madame de Maintenon brought to Versailles. The front of both bodice and skirt are adorned with heavy chamarrures and rich gold embroidered bands (or "prétintailles"). The short sleeves are extended by two rows of lace. The top coat or skirt ends in a train, the length of which depended on social rank. Narrow waistlines presage great suffering
The meticulous description of the costume, and the château grounds that serve as its backdrop, evoke the world of a dynasty of engravers, painters, publishers and print dealers who prospered under Louis XIV: the Bonnarts. Prolific artists and shrewd merchants, the brothers Henri, Jean-Baptiste, Robert and Nicolas Bonnart were the inventors of the "portrait en mode", widely distributing stereotyped effigies of the people of Versailles in their finest attire. Several of the Bonnart brothers were painters, but little is known about their output. If we can't rule out the work of another artist, or even a foreigner, the Bonnarts' influence seems decisive in this precious portrait.
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