Portrait Of Madame Arrault d'Herbemont As Diana, Pierre Mignard (1612-1695)

Pierre Mignard (Troyes, 1612-Paris, 1695) was the great rival and competitor of the First Painter of King Louis XIV, Charles Le Brun. He had to wait until the latter's death in 1690 to finally become First Painter of the King and Director of the Royal Manufactures.
The artist was an immense decorator whose masterpiece is the fresco decoration of the dome of the Val de Grâce in Paris, commissioned by Anne d'Autiche in 1663. He also decorated the gallery of the Château de Saint-Cloud for Monsieur, brother of Louis XIV as well as one of the chapels of the Church of Saint-Eustache (destroyed).
But Pierre Mignard is especially known for the exceptional quality of his portraits of the royal family including those of the sovereign himself whom he portrayed about ten times, the nobles of the court as well as the great authors of his time (Molière, La Fontaine, Racine, Bossuet, etc.).
Many portraits of him are preserved in museums, very few are signed, the majority of them are attributed to him.
In the art trade, the portraits given to Pierre Mignard appear in abundance and more or less justified.

Here our painting bears this quite remarkable mention of P Mignard/pinxit 1692 attesting to the hand of the painter but by inscribing the date of 1792, the artist highlights his position as First Painter of King Louis XIV, since he obtained this long-awaited and coveted position in 1690.
This admirable portrait is that of Madame Arrault d'Herbemont, according to the label on the back of the frame of the painting. It represents the model as Diana the Huntress and, according to the usual conventions of the mythological portrait, she wears the attributes of Diana, bow, arrows, quiver and a jewel in the shape of a crescent moon adorns her diadem.
It should be noted, however, that the model is not wearing the antique tunic but a contemporary costume and that her chest is chastely covered, not revealing a bare breast, as is customary in mythological portraits.
The painting shows virtually no wear and very few alterations; it has been relined.
The oval frame in carved and gilded wood is from the period.