The Prado in Madrid has the prime version of our portrait, in addition to a pendant of her brother, Philippe II d’Orleans (1674-1723) (Figs. 1 & 2).[1] Another version, formerly attributed to the studio of Pierre Mignard (1612 - 1695), which has since been recognised to be by the hand of Largillière, resides in the Château de Versailles collection (Fig. 3). Ours is closer in composition to the Prado painting and, in both, the French artistic taste for bold colours and extravagant costumes/backgrounds are readily on display.

With her porcelain white skin, rosy cheeks and pink lips – matched to the pastel colour of her dress – Princess Élisabeth-Charlotte is the picture of youthful innocence and wealth. Her basket of fruit rests atop a blue cushion with gold-thread embroidery. The repeated fleur-de-lis pattern appeared after restoration of our painting, and it seems possible a previous owner hoped to draw likeness with their own relatives rather than to the French Royal family and so removed the monarchical symbol. The autumnal background is largely non-descript and the scene is broken up by the presence of a column. The young Princess appears to be in motion: playing with goods in the basket whilst her dress flutters behind her. This movement differs to the Prado version, where Élisabeth-Charlotte is largely stationary, like her brother in the pendant portrait. Our portrait therefore has a playful quality in comparison to the other versions.

Élisabeth-Charlotte d’Orleans was the daughter of Philip, Duke d’Orleans (1640 – 1701) – the brother of Louis XIV the great “Sun King” (1638 – 1715) - and Elizabeth Charlotte of Bavaria, Princess Palatine (1652 – 1722) – granddaughter of Frederick V, Elector Palatine and Elizabeth Stuart. Her grandfather was Louis XIII (1610 – 1643) and as a petite-fille de France she was given the style of Mademoiselle de Chartes, taken from one of her father’s subsidiary titles. She was latterly known as Madame Royale, according to her status as the highest-ranking unmarried princess in France. Élisabeth-Charlotte was married on 13 October 1698 to Leopold, Duke of Lorraine, a union widely acknowledged to have been one of love. She is, through her son Francois, husband of Marie-Thérèse of Austria, the grandmother of Marie-Antoinette, and an ancestor of all the current Habsburg-Lorraine family.

Nicolas de Largillière was born on 10 October 1656. His father – a hatmaker – moved their family to Antwerp in 1659 and Largillière proved himself to be a precocious talent. In 1675, at the age of nineteen, and following an apprenticeship with the painter Antoine Goubeau (1616-1698) in their new home city, he travelled to London to work in the studio of Sir Peter Lely (1618 – 1680), court painter to Charles II. In addition to working in Lely’s studio Largillière was commissioned by the Crown to carry out restoration work on the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle, primarily as an assistant to Antonio Verrio (1636 – 1707). During this time Largillière completed a number of still life paintings, turning to works by Dutch and Flemish masters such as Jan Davidz. De Heem (1606 – circa 1683) and Rachel Ruysch (1664 – 1750). His delicate handling of this genre extends to his portraits – as we see here. Princess Élisabeth-Charlotte daintily holds a bunch of grapes that have been lifted from a basket of fruit. The attention to detail in this small aspect of the painting highlights Largillière’s prowess as a still life painter.

In 1679, Largillière was forced to flee Britain due to the rising tide of ant-Catholic sentiment and latterly persecution. The artist returned to Paris and was introduced to Charles Le Brun (1619 – 1690), Premier Peintre to Louis XIV and Directeur of the Académie Royale. Le Brun’s close affiliation with the French Royal Family resulted in a commission for Largillière to paint an ad vivum portrait of the King. In 1683, he was admitted into the Académie, based on a portrait of his friend, and mentor. In 1686, Largillière returned once more to England and was commissioned to paint the portrait of the newly crowned King James II (1633 – 1701) (Fig. 4) and his consort Mary of Modena (1658 – 1718). After James fell from power and fled to France, Largillière was employed as one of the principal portraitists of the Jacobite court.

Largillière’s artistic style is largely imbued with his Anglo-Flemish origins (a tradition that can be traced to Sir Anthony van Dyck; and, latterly to Lely and Verrio). His time in Paris, and his exposure to the French academic style, gradually moved his work towards a more decorative, elegant idiom. His celebrated painting, ‘La Belle Strasbourgeoise’ (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Strasbourg) is arguably his most iconic work. A variant of this painting came up for sale in 2020 at Christie’s and sold for a remarkable €1,570,000.00. Largillière lived and worked throughout his exceedingly long life. Enough so, that towards the end of his career, he was acknowledged as the patriarch of the Académie. He was dubbed the peintre universel, for it was thought there was nothing he could not paint.

[1] The Prado portraits are thought to have been part of a group collected by María Luisa de Orleans (1662 – 1689), first wife of Carlos II of Spain, which would become part of the Royal Collection. Some of these paintings would have decorated the Queen’s Gallery in the Alcázar, Madrid.

https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/elisabeth-charlotte-dorleans-mademoiselle-de/d45567f3-4513-4a8f-a380-0138307677fc