Madame Adélaïde de France, full-face in lace-edged gold-embroidered Court dress with ermine-lined blue cloak, white lace in her powdered curly hair; garden landscape with a stone vase in the background

Adélaïde (1732-1800) was the fourth surviving child of King Louis XV of France and his wife Maria Leszczynska. More spiritual and cultured than beautiful, she never married as when young there was no prince of equivalent rank available for marriage. She was an influent personality at the court of Louis XV and tried to maintain an impact on her nephew King Louis XVI. Extremely hostile towards Queen Marie-Antoinette, she was the first one to nickname her l'Autrichienne, a sobriquet used by the Revolutionaries years later. In February 1791, Madame Adélaïde and her sister Victoria emigrated to Italy and died in poverty in Trieste.