Princess Henrietta Anne, Duchess of Orléans (‘Minette’) (1644–1670)
Jean Charles Nocret, the younger (1648 - 1691)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1661 (date of marriage)
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
756 x 838 mm (29 3/4 x 33 in)
Place of origin
France
Order this imageCollection
Plas Newydd, Anglesey
NT 1175919
Caption
The sittter was the youngest daughter of Charles I and affectionately called 'Minette' by her brother. After the imprisonment of her father, Princess Henrietta was smuggled to France by her governess, Lady Dalkeith, and she grew up at the French court with her mother, Henrietta Maria. An ardent Catholic, she became a favourite of the French royal family and, after the Restoration, married her cousin, Philippe, duc d’Orleans, in 1661. She later facilitated a treaty between his elder brother, Louis XIV and hers, King Charles II. Her marriage was not a happy one, however, and jealous of the flirtatious Louis, Philippe deprived his wife of any friends, leaving her isolated and lonely. Her untimely death was blamed, by many, on poison, although autopsies revealed that she died of a punctured ulcer. .
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Princess Henrietta Anne (‘Minette’), Duchess of Orléans (1644–1670) by Jean Charles Nocret, the younger (1648 - 1691), inscribed in Gothic script, bottom left: 'Duchess of Orleans / niece of the Regent' [erroneous], half-length, a portrait of the youngest daughter of Charles I, who married Philippe, duc d'Orléans, the brother of King Louis IV of France, in 1661, to left, facing, wearing a green pearl-encrusted dress and a blue mantle embroidered with fleur-de-lys, holding her King Charles spaniel, the favourite breed of her brother.
Provenance
Accepted by HM Government in lieu of inheritance tax and allocated to the National Trust for display at Plas Newydd, 2016.
Marks and inscriptions
Recto: In Gothic script, bottom left: Duchess of Orleans / niece of the Regent
Makers and roles
Jean Charles Nocret, the younger (1648 - 1691), artist French School, artist
References
Steegman 1957 John Steegman, A Survey of Portraits in Welsh Houses, Vol.I: North Wales, Cardiff, 1957, p. 31 No.42