Pastel 18th: Woman Botanist

Portrait from the Louis XVI period made in pastel around 1770 representing Jeanne Marguerite Auriol de Collomey, one of the first French female botanists. She is represented at the waist on a background of blue sky because of small white clouds, holding a carnation in her hand and one arm leaning on a shelf on which is an open botany book and an alignment of small pots filled with carnations. . She sketches a small smile and her gaze is that of a determined woman. She is dressed in a blue silk dress adorned with pink bows at the bottom of the neckline and three-quarter sleeves. She wears 2 hair bracelets on her wrists symbolizing the bond uniting her to her loved ones. This beautiful and rare representation of a botanist is in its original carved gilded wooden frame. This pastel illustrates the cultivation of carnations in the south of the 18th century. Inscriptions on the back. 51x 40cm Frame: 63.8 x 50.3cm Good condition.