Portrait of a duchess with blue eyes. A book in his right hand, in a black coat with an ermine lapel. His hands are placed on a support piece of furniture covered with a drape with brown-red dynastic coats of arms marked with several crosses in silver thread. Oil on canvas (re-covering) H. 81 - L. 64.5 cm Louis XV period - 18th century To be compared for the quality of treatment of the ermine lapel (see photo), and the modeling in the light of the hands and face , from the portrait of Louise Elisabeth of France (1727 - 1759) infant of Spain, wife of Philippe de Bourbon, then duchesse de Parme (1745) by Louis - Michel van Loo, of the Prado museum (POO2281). Louis Michel VAN LOO (Toulon 1707 - Paris 1771) Coming from the van Loo dynasty, established in France in the 17th century, Louis Michel van Loo studied under the direction of his father, the painter Jean Baptiste van Loo, in Turin and Rome . He won the prize of the price of the Royal Academy of Painting and sculpture in 1725 with his "Moses child bringing down the crown of Pharaoh". He then stayed in Rome from 1727 to 1732 with his uncle, the painter Charles André van Loo (1705-1765). In 1736, he became official painter of the court of Philippe V of Spain in Madrid. He was among the founding members of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts San Fernando in 1752. He returned to France in 1753 and painted several portraits of Louis XV. In 1765, he succeeded his uncle Charles-André as director of the Royal School of Protected Students. He is the brother of the French painters van Loo and Charles Amédée Philippe van Loo.