Portrait Of Ninon De Lenclos Miniature After Jean Petitot

Ninon de Lenclos is an extraordinary woman, who remains a member of the pantheon of beaux esprits of the grand siècle.
A gentleman's daughter, born in 1620 to a bigoted mother and a libertine father, she received a refined education and developed a taste for music. An accomplished lute player, she also played the harpsichord.
Beautiful as the day is long, in stark contrast to her mother's austerity, she made a name for herself in high society as a free-spirited, beautiful spirit, and by her empire over the senses of the men who courted her.
If she had a neckful of gallants, whom she made sigh, she also made them pay in hard-earned coin.
This brilliant, overly free, voluptuous life drew her the disapproval of the devout party, and some well-wrought enmities.
In 1656, by order of Queen Anne of Austria, she was confined to a convent in Lagny for the rest of her life.
However, her life as a woman of wit resumed a little later, with a brilliant salon, and Voltaire, whom she met as a child, became her friend until her last moments in 1705.
It's impossible to talk about this emblematic figure of the 16th century in just a few lines, as much has been written about her even after her death.
The curious iconography of this miniature is interesting for several reasons.
On the one hand, it repeats, with a few additions, the presentation of the miniature attributed to Jean Petitot (1607- 1691), a brilliant enameller in the Louvre.
On the other hand, the added elements - a penitential cross, a halo, and a crown similar to that used to symbolize King David - suggest that the artist is recalling Ninon's confinement to the convent, and therefore her obligation to do penance, but also that she is the Queen of Hearts.
The crown of King David is an allusion to her musical talent.
This coded miniature, not devoid of humor, is a curious tribute to this princess of hearts in penitence.
Dating this miniature is not straightforward.
The frame is old, XVIIIE, hermetically sealed with old ivory paper in good condition, and never opened since. The Krafft has been added recently to allow a modern glued ring to replace a period setting.
The poorly concealed presence of a piece of dominoté paper, a trace of a background that was replaced a long time ago.
The velvet framing my miniature is old and a little worn.
All these elements lead me to cautiously say that this is a miniature made around 1830, with a proven intention to deceive, making the object seem older than it is.
It is therefore, a priori, both a testimony to the memory of this brilliant woman, alive and well in the 19th century, and to well-known practices that cannot be illustrated so often.
Dimensions of the miniature : 7 cm x 6 cm