Rare Portrait Of Madame De Maintenon -pierre Mignard XVII E. Bérain-style Frame.

Rare and elegant oval portrait of Madame de Maintenon (1635-1719) by the school of Pierre Mignard (1612-1695), famous portraitist of French classicism and competitor of Charles Le Brun. The frame is Bérain style, in wood and gilded stucco. It is later than the canvas, certainly from the Napoleon III period (1852-1870). Madame de Maintenon is dressed in a blue veil, a symbol of purity and "honest color" since the religious crisis which struck Western Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. Marian blue, widely used in religious painting since the 12th century, contrasts with the blush on the cheekbones and lips. The whole, slightly attenuated by the pale pink corset, gives the secret wife of King Louis XIV a slightly formal appearance. Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon, arrived at the Court of Versailles in the 1670s. Born in 1635 in the Niort prison where her father was imprisoned for debts, orphaned in 1647, she married the author for her first marriage in 1652. Paul Scarron. Upon her death, the young widow, riddled with debt, received the nickname “Widow Scarron”. On the advice of Madame de Montespan, favorite of Louis XIV, whom she met a few years earlier, in 1669 she became the governess of the king's bastards whom he had with his mistress. In 1675, still on the advice of the Marquise de Montespan, Louis XIV granted him two bonuses which allowed him to buy the land of Maintenon and take its name. She then developed the old castle and rehabilitated it. Extremely rare for the time, she became "lord" and became one of the only women of the time, capable of managing her growing heritage alone (fiefs, estates and agricultural production). In 1680, she received the office, specially created for her. , from “second lady around” to the Dauphine. Having moved closer to the king's intimacy, she took advantage of the disgrace of the Marquise de Montespan then the death of Queen Marie-Thérèse to secretly marry the King in 1683. Madame de Maintenon enjoyed great influence over Louis XIV, who goes daily to her home, to her apartment overlooking the royal courtyard of the Castle. He works there, receives his ministers and enjoys moments of calm, one-on-one with his wife. However, it is difficult to assess the role it played in the sovereign's political decisions. The one who only appeared to the courtiers as "Madame deNow", shared the king's life for more than thirty years. A few days before the death of the king, this powerful woman of the shadows retired to Saint-Cyr, in the house of education for young poor girls of the nobility that she had created by Louis XIV. Our canvas and its frame are in perfect condition and of very good size. The whole thing has been cleaned giving the whole thing a very authentic look. Our portrait is exhibited in our show room at the Blangy hotel and can be presented on request. Quality work from the end of the 17th century. School of the painter Pierre Mignard, also a famous portraitist whose best-known work is the strikingly truthful portrait of his friend Molière, exhibited today at the Condé museum in Chantilly. The canvas alone: 59 cm high by 48 cm wide. Frame and canvas in perfect condition.