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16th to 18th century furniture, paintings and works of art
Marquise de Montespan,
by François de Troy (1645 – 1730)
17th century French school, circa 1675
Oil on canvas in oval shape, dim. h. 76 cm, w. 57 cm
A Louis XIV large giltwood frame (later regilt)
Framed: h. 98 cm, l. 78 cm
We are grateful to Mr. Dominique Brême, ex-director of the museum of the Domaine départemental de Sceaux and specialist of François de Troy, for kindly confirming the attribution to François de Troy by a visual examination of this portrait which he will include in the catalog raisonné of the artist currently being prepared.
Sumptuous portrait of King Louis XIV's favourite mistress between 1667 and 1683, Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Marquise de Montespan (1640-1707).
Known for her dazzling beauty, she is portrayed in a bust length, her head slightly turned to the right, her face expression full of pride brushing against the insolence so characteristic of her effigies.
She gazes at the viewer with her large, azure blue eyes, their lids slightly lowered, giving her a languid air, accentuated by her sensual mouth. Her pearly white complexion is rendered with translucent brushstrokes; the resulting transparency is a distinctive mark of François de Troy, combined with his technique of using subtle shadows in the treatment of flesh to achieve a velvety and silky effect.
Her mass of curly blond hair is casually tied back with a string of pearls, with a loose curl falling over her shoulder.
She is dressed in a white blouse adorned with lace, revealing a plunging neckline, and a magnificent satin stole of intense lapis blue. Held by a clasp of sparkling gemstones, the ends of the scarf barely rest on her shoulders. Its ample fabric, ready to slip and reveal the young woman's charms, combined with the spontaneity of the pose and the apparent simplicity, lends a frivolous lightness to the whole.
Far from the classical formal portrait characterized by sophisticated court attire and an abundance of jewelry , François de Troy offers us here an intimate and voluptuous version of the king's mistress.
Despite the fact that François de Troy began working for the king and the marquise through Charles Le Brun in the early 1670s, no portrait of the Marquise de Montespan painted by him survives in either public or private collections. However, the king's building accounts for 1673 record a payment to François de Troy for a portrait of the marquise commissioned for her apartment at the Château de Saint-Germain. A 17th-century copy of our painting exists in the Palace of Versailles (inv. MV4265, anonymous painter, h. 69 cm, w. 57 cm); of poor quality, it was painted with less expensive blue pigments that have turned gray with age.
François de Troy (Toulouse 1645 – Paris 1730)
from a family of Toulouse artists, distinguished himself early on by creating a coat of arms for the solemn entry of the Prince of Conti into Toulouse in 1662. He then moved to Paris where he continued his training in the studio of Nicolas Loir, and later of Jean Cotelle, whose daughter he married in 1668. Initially a history painter, he was accepted into the Academy in 1671 and formally admitted in 1674 with his painting "Mercury and Argus." Through his association with the studio of Claude Lefebvre, he turned to portraiture, becoming one of the greatest exponents of the late reign of Louis XIV and the Regency. It is believed that through his friendship with Charles Le Brun, the King's First Painter, he was introduced to Madame de Montespan, who made him one of her official artists. The influence of the impetuous favorite allowed him to gain access to the royal family and all those of importance at court and in Paris. He also served as portraitist to the English royal family, exiled in France at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye from 1689. A skilled courtier, François de Troy then became attached to the Duke of Maine, Louis XIV's beloved bastard son, and to his influential wife, daughter of the Prince of Condé. Appointed assistant professor in 1692, he became a professor at the Academy the following year. He served as its director from 1708 to 1711. He was also frequently commissioned by Parisian aldermen for religious paintings. His son Jean-François (1679 – 1752) collaborated with him at the end of his career before taking up the torch and perpetuating the family glory.
