Portrait of Françoise-Athénaïs marquise of Montespan, Henri Gascard (Paris 1635 – Rome 1701)

Workshop of Pierre Mignard (1612 – 1695)
Attributable to Henri Gascard (Paris 1635 – Rome 1701)

Portrait of Françoise-Athénaïs Marquise de Montespan (1640-1707), favorite of Louis XIV of France

Oil painting on canvas

79 x 86 cm. – In frame 91 x 98 cm.

Full details of the painting (click HERE)

The painting portrays Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Marquise de Montespan (Lussac-les-Châteaux, 1640 – Bourbon-l'Archambault, 1707), a French noblewoman better known as Madame de Montespan, the most famous favorite of King Louis XIV of France.

A member of one of the oldest and noblest families in France, the House of Rochechouart, Madame de Montespan was called by some "the true Queen of France" during her love affair with Louis XIV of France because of the pervasiveness of her influence at court during that period.

She was one of the most emblematic and fascinating figures of the Sun King's court, celebrated by her contemporaries as a woman of extraordinary beauty: with her blond hair, blue eyes, and crimson lips, she was the perfect embodiment of beauty according to the canons of the time.

Beside her is Cupid on a cloud, the god of love, ready to shoot his arrow at her, thus alluding to his amorous control over Louis XIV between 1667 and 1680.

The practice of portraying royal mistresses as deities was also a way to legitimize their influence at court, elevating them to icons of fashion and eternal beauty.

The portrait, in particular, takes inspiration from a composition created by the workshop of Pierre Mignard and now in Versailles (Musée national des Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon), which portrays Madame de Montespan as a Venus, flanked by her little son Cupid (https://collections.chateauversailles.fr/#/query/678e7719-364b-4c8e-a65a-20939d96d8ce ).

The noblewoman is portrayed reclining, elegantly dressed in a silk dressing gown trimmed with lace, adorned with pearls in her hair and around her neck, and stylistically reflects the figurative culture of the French great century, characterized by a Baroque-style classicism, aimed at exalting the court of the Sun King.

Pierre Mignard is known for having portrayed Madame de Montespan on several occasions, often with allegorical themes.

There are works, attributed to her workshop, which show Montespan crowned by Cupid, underlining her “power” and her influential beauty at court.

Numerous portraits were dedicated to her by the greatest painters of the time, reflecting her position as the "absolute" favorite at the court of Louis XIV, celebrating her legendary beauty and sumptuous taste, in which she was often portrayed as a classical deity. Famous examples include the portrait by Charles Beaubrun depicting her as Diana the Huntress, or the painting in the Pitti Palace in Florence, of French origin, which also shows her as Diana the Huntress, surrounded by erotics and dogs (https://catalogo.cultura.gov.it/detail/HistoricOrArtisticProperty/0900126047 ), and finally the portrait of Monstespan as Iris by Louis Elle, also at Versailles (https://pop.culture.gouv.fr/notice/joconde/000PE007085 ).

Returning to our canvas, it is likely that it could be a work from the workshop of Pierre Mignard himself, generally referable to the last quarter of the 17th century: specifically, in our opinion, it would be plausible to compare it to Henri Gascard (1635–1701), a pupil and collaborator of Mignard, from whom he learned the elegant and idealised style typical of French classicism of the period.

A highly successful French portraitist in the 17th century, he often worked “in the manner of” or as a follower of Mignard, and many 17th-century works are now the subject of debate as to their attribution to the two artists or their respective workshops.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The painting is sold complete with a pleasant golden frame and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and descriptive iconographic card.

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