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Lot Essay
The identification of Largillirre's sitters remains a difficult task, but it would seem most likely that the present work depicts Marie-Franoise de Saulx-Tavannes, daughter of the Comte de Tavannes, Marquis de Tilchatel, a prominent member of the Burgundian nobility, who married Claude-Ren de la Rochethulon, Marquis des Prs, and Chevalier de St. Louis, in 1724.
Georges Sortais, who compiled an extensive archive of photographs of Largillirre's works (Bibliothque Nationale, Paris) in preparation for a monograph on the artist, dated the present work to circa 1713-5 and identified it as having come from the Chteau de Bandiment in Poitou. It can be compared, for instance, to Portrait of a Lady as Astraea in the Montreal Museum of Art, generally dated to around 1710-2.
Georges Sortais, who compiled an extensive archive of photographs of Largillirre's works (Bibliothque Nationale, Paris) in preparation for a monograph on the artist, dated the present work to circa 1713-5 and identified it as having come from the Chteau de Bandiment in Poitou. It can be compared, for instance, to Portrait of a Lady as Astraea in the Montreal Museum of Art, generally dated to around 1710-2.