Marie Adélaïde de Savoie (1685–1712), Duchesse de Bourgogne

Pierre Gobert

1710 · Oil on canvas · European Paintings

Much like Jean Marc Nattier in the next generation, Gobert became a fashionable portraitist among the French aristocracy and royal family at court, in part through lending all his sitters a uniform grace that often makes a given identity difficult to differentiate. The inscription indicates that this is Marie Adélaïde, the mother of Louis XV, who sat for Gobert on several occasions. The jeweled armband and low, transparent dress signal a classicizing, allegorical portrait elevating her to the realm of the gods rather than representing contemporary fashion.

Artist

Pierre Gobert

Date

1710

Medium

Oil on canvas

Department

European Paintings

Credit line

Gift of the Marquis de La Bégassière, 1963