Lot Essay
The present portrait of Marie de'Medici as Bellona derives from the picture in the Museum Heylshof, Worms, with variations.
This painting bears on its reverse a label indicating that it belonged to Marie Caroline Ferdinande Louise, Duchess of Berry (1798-1879). She was the second wife of Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry and son of Charles X of France. In 1820, Charles Ferdinand was stabbed and mortally wounded in Paris, and she was obliged to flee to Holyrood when King Charles X was overthrown during the July revolution. The Duchess returned to her family in Naples for a time, before attempting to restore the Bourbon dynasty in order to secure the throne of France for her son Henri, Comte de Chambord. Her failed rebellion of 1832 landed her in prison in the castle of Blaye, until she gave birth to a daughter in 1833 and it was revealed that she had secretly married an Italian nobleman, Ettore Lucchesi Palli, Prince di Campofranco, Duke della Grazia.
This painting bears on its reverse a label indicating that it belonged to Marie Caroline Ferdinande Louise, Duchess of Berry (1798-1879). She was the second wife of Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry and son of Charles X of France. In 1820, Charles Ferdinand was stabbed and mortally wounded in Paris, and she was obliged to flee to Holyrood when King Charles X was overthrown during the July revolution. The Duchess returned to her family in Naples for a time, before attempting to restore the Bourbon dynasty in order to secure the throne of France for her son Henri, Comte de Chambord. Her failed rebellion of 1832 landed her in prison in the castle of Blaye, until she gave birth to a daughter in 1833 and it was revealed that she had secretly married an Italian nobleman, Ettore Lucchesi Palli, Prince di Campofranco, Duke della Grazia.