Portrait Of A Lady Of The Court Attributed To François De Troy (1645-1730)

Attributed to François de Troy (1645-1730)
Portrait of a Lady-in-Waiting
Oil on canvas: 80 x 63 cm excluding frame and 104 x 89 cm
Important period Louis XIV frame in gilt and carved wood

Shown in three-quarters view, this elegant Lady of the Court is richly dressed in a white satin gown embroidered with gold threads and adorned with a pearl brooch. The sleeves are held in place by ribbons set with a jewel, and a pink silk cloak covers her shoulders. Her face is delicate and rosy, her gaze gentle, and she wears her hair in a high Fontange chignon, with brown curls falling gracefully over her right shoulder, held by a long, slender hand. Her face is delicate and rosy, her gaze gentle. Our painting is highlighted in a 17th-century carved and gilded wooden frame, which is to be restored.

Coming from a family of painters from Toulouse, François de Troy studied in Paris under Nicolas Loir and Claude Lefèvre. He excelled in portrait art and history painting. In 1694, he was admitted to the Royal Academy. He became the Court painter for King James II in exile at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, working in collaboration with his pupil Alexis Simon Belle.
For more than fifty years he will be the court painter in France and abroad.