Young Princess With Flowers – Entourage Of Pierre Mignard

Oil on canvas. French school of the 17th century. Circle of Pierre Mignard
Our young princess, draped in a vermilion dress called "à la romaine" with velvety reflections, and a lace chemise, seems to emerge from the darkness. The fiery red ignites the canvas like a contained fire, revealing the nobility of a ceremonial garment perhaps too large for the age, but cut for the rank. With a haughty bearing, the young girl is presented with theatricality: the left hand holding the flowers picked in a fold of dress and the other holding a modest bouquet that she has made. This gesture, both graceful and assertive, seems borrowed from the codes of adult representation, as if the child already embodied the promises of a destiny all mapped out.
Inspired by the style of Pierre Mignard, our painter adopts his aesthetic codes: controlled grace, contained splendor, light that caresses without invading... Is he one of his students or one of the collaborators in his studio? Our portrait is not only that of a child, but that of an ideal, from a time when the image was worth rank, when painting was an oath of posterity.

Its original frame, sculpted and gilded, is decorated with plant and floral motifs. Like a case, it does not enclose the figure but consecrates it.
Dimensions: 75 x 59 cm – 92 x 77 cm with the frame
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Biography:
Pierre Mignard (Troyes 1612 – Paris 1695) is the brother of Nicolas (known as Nicolas Mignard d'Avignon), also a painter. Like Valentin de Boulogne, Michel Dorigny, Charles Le Brun or Eustache Le Sueur, he is the student of Simon Vouet. Nicknamed "the Roman" because of his long stay in Rome, Pierre Mignard is considered one of the best colorists of his time. Louis XIV had him recalled from Italy in 1657 to entrust him with the decoration of the dome of the Val-de-Grâce and the small gallery of Versailles. After the death of Charles Le Brun, he was appointed first painter to the King and director of the Academy of Painting. Pierre Mignard excelled in portrait painting and was distinguished by the naturalness and truth of the expression of his figures.

Bibliography:
- AUBERT Jean, Faces of the Grand Siècle?: the French portrait under the reign of Louis XIV, 1660-1715, (cat. Expo., Nantes, Museum of Fine Arts, June 20 - September 15, 1997; Toulouse, Museum of Augustins, October 8, 1997 - January 5, 1998), Somogy, 1997.
- KIRCHNER Thomas, Joys and Misfortunes of Portraiture in 17th-Century France, Paris, Fondation maison des sciences de l'homme German Center for Art History, 2022.
- BREME Dominique, JAMES-SARAZIN Ariane, Portraits in Majesty, François de Troy, Nicolas de Largillière, Hyacinthe Rigaud, (cat. Expo. Hyacinthe Rigaud Art Museum Perpignan, June 26 - November 7, 2021), Silvana Editoriale, 2021
- BAJOU Thierry, Painting at Versailles 17th Century, Réunion des Musées Nationaux 1998
- BOYER Jean-Claude, Pierre Mignard le Romain, Documentation Française Editions 1997
- BREME, Dominique, François de Troy, 1645-1730, (exhibition cat., Toulouse, Paul Dupuy Museum, April 7 - July 7, 1997), Paris, Somogy, 1997.
- LEROUX Flavie, VAYSSE Elodie, Versailles: a feminine castle, Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 2022.
- HILAIRE Michel, RAMADE Patrick, Grand Siècle, Seuil RMN, 1993