Princess Henriette-anne Of France As Flora, Jean-marc Nattier (paris 1685–1776) School Of

School of Jean-Marc Nattier (Paris 1685 – Paris 1776)

Portrait of Princess Henriette-Anne of France as Flora (Versailles, 1727 – Versailles, 1752)
daughter of Louis XV (1727-1752)

French master, 18th-19th century

Oil on canvas (95 x 128 cm. - Framed 107 x 141 cm.)

Full details of the work (click HERE)

During the Rococo period it became very fashionable for the most influential noblewomen in France to have their portraits painted in the guise of goddesses, and the French painter Jean-Marc Nattier (1685-1766) was perhaps the first to launch this trend, thanks to paintings full of elegance and charm, such as the one he painted of Princess Henriette Anne of France, portrayed as Flora, the Roman goddess of spring.

The eldest daughter of King Louis XV of France and his wife Maria Leszczyńska, she was the twin sister of Louise Elisabeth of France, and later became known as Madame Henriette.

The painter Jean-Marc Nattier was commissioned to paint her in 1742, with the princess just fifteen years old, for the queen's private apartments in Versailles (see image in detail), where it is still today (MV 3818), and belongs to the famous series of portraits of Louis XV's daughters.

A painting that portrayed the king's daughter in an unusual pose, without opulent clothes and jewellery, but surrounded only by flowers, without the typical representative pose, was a pictorial novelty that immediately received great appreciation.

This, as well as the other allegorical-mythological portraits that followed, gave the painter a decade of great success in Paris, as all the ladies of King Louis XV's court wanted to see their image in classical mythological clothes as modern divinities.

The figure of the young girl is part of the poetic world of Olympus: the princess as Flora who composes a crown of flowers, lying on a rock and surrounded by nature, is simply dressed in a white dress embellished with a blue drape, wrapped in a cloudy sky with pink reflections. In the distance, on a suitably positioned slope, a city appears.

A conspicuous series of replicas of the work followed, including of course the one destined for the king's bedroom at the Château de Choisy (1745, Versailles, MV 4457), then the one kept at the Louvre (https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010054854), or the one in Florence at the Uffizi Museum. Another version, now lost, from the Rothschild collection in Paris, was the copy that appeared in the collection of the Duke of Orléans at the Palais-Royal in 1826.

The painting we propose is a valuable replica, dating from between the 18th and 19th centuries, which reflects the quality and definition of the details. It fully expresses the formal and aesthetic elegance required by the master's workshop for its demanding aristocratic clientele. Note the meticulous rendering of the facial features and the sharpness of the contours emphasised by the light, both in the details of the face and in the reflections on the armour, rendered with great skill.

The work is presented in a good state of conservation, with a gilded wooden frame.


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
The work is sold with a certificate of authenticity and a descriptive iconographic card.
We organise and take care of the shipment of the purchased works, through professional and insured carriers, within Italy and abroad.
It is also possible to see the painting in the gallery in Riva del Garda, we will be happy to welcome you and show you our collection of works.
Please feel free to contact us for any additional information.

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