Old French Portrait From The 18th Century, Jean Marc Nattier (workshop)

Oil on canvas Dimensions 143 X 120 cm The lady in the portrait could be Henrietta Anna of France (Versailles, August 14, 1727 - Versailles, February 10, 1752) born Princess of France, she was the twin of Louise Elisabeth of France and eldest daughter of the king Louis XV of France and his wife Maria Leszczyńska. The twins were born at the Palace of Versailles on August 14, 1727. She was the youngest of the twins and was therefore known at her father's court as Madame Seconde. As the king's daughter, she was a daughter of France. She was later known as Madame Henriette. Enrichetta was her father's favorite. While her young sisters were sent to the Abbey of Fontevraud in 1738 to be educated there, Henrietta Anna grew up in Versailles. It was entrusted to the care of Marie Isabelle de Rohan, Duchess of Tallard. He spent his childhood in Versailles with his sisters Luisa Elisabetta and Adelaide and their younger brother, the Dauphin by Franci Jean Marc Nattier - the painter who extols feminine beauty to the point that he alters the appearance of the models he paints in order to to improve their appearance Jean-Marc Nattier (Paris, March 17, 1685 - Paris, November 7, 1776) Jean-Marc Nattier did not have a quick and easy career. To get there, he had to fight his whole life. He belonged to one of those families of artists who passed the practice of the art from father to son. His father Marc Nattier, member of the Royal Academy, was a portrait painter inspired by the school of Claude Lefèbvre. Mother Marie Courtois was a miniaturist. Paralyzed at 22, this did not prevent her from giving birth to two children, Jean-Baptiste and Jean-Marc. His illustrious patron was the history painter Jean Jouvenet, professor and then director of the Royal Academy, where his father sent him, very young, to learn art. Jean-Marc won the drawing prize at the age of 15, obtaining the pupil's pension. He was thus commissioned in 1703 to draw, in the gallery of the Palais du Luxembourg, the famous suite of works by Rubens, the Cycle of Marie de Medici, queen of France, and then have them engraved, with the authorization of Louis XIV. , who had already had the opportunity to appreciate his talent. In the execution of the 24 drawings, he was helped by his brother Jean-Baptiste who, involved in the Deschaffours trial, committed suicide by slitting his throat before being burned at the stake in the Place de Grève (1726). This work, completed in 1710, gave it notoriety, although it received some criticism. As soon as this great work was completed, Jouvenet suggested that he go to the French Academy in Rome. His professional commitments and a certain laziness led him to refuse, even if he regretted it later, especially for his never-forgotten ambition to become a history painter. But his life had to follow another path. In May 1715 his application to become a member of the Royal Academy was accepted, although the painting ordered by Antoine Coypel for admission was not delivered until October 1718. In 1717 Nattier accepted the Tsar's invitation and left for Amsterdam to join the Court of Peter the Great, then moved to The Hague with the order to paint the portrait of Empress Catherine. The Tsarina was enthusiastic and wrote to the Tsar who asked Nattier to go to Paris where the artist began painting Peter the Great. But at the next invitation to follow him to Russia, Nattier refused. A man of modest habits and fond of his neighborhood, he feared a trip to a country too far away, said to be populated by barbarians. The Tsar, not used to waste, definitively broke off relations with the French painter. Nattier also fell into the trap of Law's system, which led to the stars and then pulverized many private wealth in 1720. He was forced at this time of his life to make poorly paid portraits and commissions of all kinds. Fortunately for him, in 1721, he was associated by one of his friends, Jean-Baptiste Massé, in a work of engraving, for the reproduction of the paintings of the Great Gallery of Versailles and the Halles of War and Peace. In 1724, he married a 16-year-old girl, Marie-Madeleine de la Roche, daughter of a king's musketeer, accustomed to a comfortable life, from whom he had many descendants. This marriage brought Nattier a lot of happiness, but due to his complete inability to manage his own income, it will cause him financial problems for life. Success