17th - 18th century
oil on canvas
99 x 122 cm (39 x 48 in.)




LOT NOTES
The present lot depicts Athenais, Marquise de Montespan, in a familiar pose and setting for late 1670s portraiteur. Mignard and his contemporaries revised this subject in numerous works to celebrate Louis XIV`s two most precious affections at the time: the Marquise herself, known as the `reigning beauty of the court,` and finishing construction of the Palace of Versailles and its famous Grand Canal. Seated in the foreground, Madame de Montespan is depicted gently embosoming the drapes in Bourbon`s own royal colors of blue and gold. A pair of swans can be seen in the distance swimming together symbolizing the love and loyalty shared between the Marquise and King Louis XIV. Their children depicted playing in and around the garden sculptures.

Francoise Athenais de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Marquise de Montespan (1640-1707) was the most well-known maitresse en titre of King Louis XIV of France. Born into one of the oldest noble families of France, she had extensive access to French aristocracy. She won the favor of kind and country by giving birth to eight children of Louis XIV and thereby becoming an ancestress of several royal houses in Europe, including those of Spain, Italy, Bulgaria and Portugal.