Portrait Of A Lady C.1750; Circle Of Jean-marc Nattier (1685-1766)

This beautiful circa 1740 portrait is the epidemy of the Rococo portrait and the perfect harmony of colour. In the soft modelling of forms and the gentle oval of the face and the slightly rosy cheeks the influence of the most important portraitists of the century, Jean Marc Nattier, is abundantly clear. Here we see the refinement and grace typical of the Rococo portrait coupled with the sumptuous draperies and decorative elements so typical of Nattier or ‘le Jeune’ as he was known. Nattier espoused two models for his portraits of women at Versailles and in wealthy Paris society. He showed these clients either in court or formal costume (that is, a lace or elaborately embroidered dress with an oval neckline, narrow sleeves to the elbow, and a tight, pointed bodice), or in accordance with his own preference, he painted them in loose, low cut draperies and in allegorical guise. In either case they usually wore their short hair lightly powdered and ornamented with flowers. Nattier's preferred colors in addition to white were blue, ivory, and red, and his shiny fabrics look like satin. He used three formats, bust, three-quarter length which was the size best suited to his allegories, and as here, half length. Wearing a fashionable satin dress and a pastel blue wrap the sitter is adorned with a garland of flowers. The lady has been depicted ‘en déshabille’, a type of ‘undress’ that was fashionable in portraiture, here a revealing chemise and blue and white draperies clasped with a jeweled belt. The work is utterly beautiful and is presented in its original carved and giltwood frame containing a presentation label “Nattier”. Jean-Marc Nattier (1685-1766) Jean-Marc Nattier was one of the most fashionable portrait painters of the eighteenth-century in France and received important commissions from the royal court. Born on 17 March 1685 in Paris into a family of painters, son of the portrait painter Marc Nattier (1642-1703) who gave him his original traning and his mother who painted miniatures. Together with his brother Jean-Baptiste, he produced a series of drawings after Rubens's Marie de Médicis cycle in the Luxembourg Palace in 1702-04 for a series of engravings published by their father. He also gained attention by copying Charles Le Brun's battle pictures and Peter Paul Rubens's Marie de' Medici cycle in the Louvre. Nattier's godfather, Baroque painter Jean Jouvenet, encouraged him to study at the Académie de France in Rome, but Nattier never went to Italy because he was so busy in Paris. In 1715, he became candidate (agréé) at the Academy and was accepted as a history painter in 1718. In 1717, he painted portraits of Tsar Peter the Great and his court but declined to go to Russia as a court artist in which the autocrat took serious umbrage at Nattier's refusal. In the following years, he became one of the fashionable society portraitists in Paris. He developed the 'portrait historié' as his speciality often depicting his sitters in allegorical or mythological roles. Increasingly popular in court circles, he was particularly favoured by Louis XV's daughters, whom he painted both as the Seasons and the Elements. Of his many portraits at Versailles, those of the Queen of 1748 and the whole-length of Madame Henriette of 1754 earned the highest praise. In 1746, he was nominated professor at the Academy. Provenance: Private collection Switzerland Measurements: Height 64cm, Width 52cm framed (Height 25.25”, Width 20.5”)