Madame Adélaïde de France (1732-1800) and her younger sister Madame Victoire de France (1733-1799), daughters of King Louis XV of France and his wife Maria Leszczynska. More spiritual and cultivated than beautiful, they never got married, possibly also for the reason that, at the time of their youth, no princes of equivalent rank were available for marriage. Influent personalities at the court of Louis XV, they tried to maintain an impact on their nephew King Louis XVI. Extremely hostile towards Marie-Antoinette, they were the first ones to nickname her l'Autrichienne, a sobriquet taken over by the Revolutionaries years later. Mesdames Adélaïde and Victoire emigrated in February 1791 to Italy and died in poverty in Trieste.
The present miniatures are based on Madame Vigée-Lebrun's oil portraits painted during the Italian exile.