18th Century Portrait Of Louis XV Of France And Queen Consort Pastel On Paper

18th century, French School. Portrait of Louis XV of France and queen consort Maria Leszczynska

(2) Pastel on paper, 47 x 60 cm

With frame 54 x 67 cm

The exceptional quality of these pastel portraits, happily detailed and extraordinarily nuanced in the definition of impalpable veils and silky shawls, allows you to easily recognize the identity of the figures, namely Louis XV of Bourbon, King of France, nicknamed the ""Beloved"" , and Maria Leszczynska, queen consort of France and Navarre. Having ascended to the throne in 1715, Louis XV surrounded himself with enlightened advisers such as Cardinal Fleury, immediately gaining widespread approval. After having balanced the internal budget through prudent economic maneuvers, the sovereign encouraged several military successes with a view to greater security in direct control of the internal product; he pushed the modernization of many major cities, despite the raging Seven Years' War during his tenure. Maria Leszczynska was the daughter of the King of Poland Stanislao, who was later dismissed from the throne; after her marriage to Louis XV, Maria supported her father's demands for a possible return to the Polish throne. The queen's widespread commitment in the artistic field was manifested in the support of the opera of the opera singer Carlo Broschi (better known as Farinelli), as well as in the work of Mozart and Voltaire.

Equal features of the queen can be seen in paintings by contemporaries, such as in the canvases of Charles Van Loo (collections of the Palace of Versailles, Hall of Mars), Jean Marc Nattier (Muzeum Narodowe, Warsaw), but also Franz Bernhard Frey (private collection) . Louis-Michel van Loo instead portrayed Louis XV in a double version, highlighting that same soothing expression that illuminates the face of the present: his canvases are now preserved in the collections of the Château de Versailles and the Museum of Fine Arts and Archeology of Chalons-en- Champagne.

Immortalizing famous people through the use of pastel on paper was a typically Rococo practice limited to the most expert in the art of figuration; the content market built on demand and offer of the pastel specimens increased their rarity and executive refinement. Master in the technique was Maurice Quentin de La Tour (1704-1788), his assiduous supporter at least since 1727; ten years later the artist organized a solo exhibition which constituted his own set-up antecedent for subsequent exhibitions at the Parisian salons. La Tour quickly became the official court portraitist and personal artist of Louis XV, performing a double pastel portrait of the king and Maria Leszczynska (both in the Musée du Louvre). Other pastel works made by La Tour, such as his Self-portrait (Musée de Picardie, Amiens), as well as those of Charles Garnier d'Isle (The MET), L'abate Nollet (Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich) and Madame de Pompadour (Saint-Quentin, Musée Antoine Lécuyer) reveal close affinities to those present, especially in the comparison of the same luminous and liquid touches on the nose and lips, in the scratched blue of the background and in the totally ethereal setting of the image. It is therefore conceivable a realization of those present, if not by the very first hand of La Tour, by one of his direct and faithful collaborators, conscious appreciators. in the scratched blue of the background and the totally ethereal setting of the image. It is therefore conceivable a realization of those present, if not by the very first hand of La Tour, by one of his direct and faithful collaborators, conscious appreciators. in the scratched blue of the background and in the totally ethereal setting of the image. It is therefore conceivable a realization of those present, if not by the very first hand of La Tour, by one of his direct and faithful collaborators, conscious appreciators.

Condition report:

Good. Wear consistent with age and use.