Louis Auguste, duc de Berry (later King Louis XVI, King of France [1754–1793] and Louis-Stanislas-Xavier, comte de Provence (later King Louis XVIII, King of France [1755-1824]) as Children
François Hubert Drouais (Paris 1727 - Paris 1775)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1760
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
787 x 813 mm (31 x 32 in)
Place of origin
France
Order this imageCollection
Cliveden Estate, Buckinghamshire
NT 766123
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Louis Auguste, duc de Berry (later King Louis XVI, King of France [1754–1793] and Louis-Stanislas-Xavier, comte de Provence (later King Louis XVIII, King of France [1755-1824]) as Children by François Hubert Drouais (Paris 1727 - Paris 1775), circa 1760. Arched top. Full-length portraits of two children, both are seated on the ground. The Comte de Provence, on the left, wearing a white lace dress embroidered with flower sprays and holding a blue ribbon attached to the collar of a small brown spaniel; the Duc de Berry, on the right, wearing a gold-embroidered dress and elaborate feathered bonnet, holding a basket of peaches and grapes; both wear ribands of the Order of the Saint-Esprit. The Duc de Berry additionally has the star of the Order of the Saint Esprit on his left breast, and wears the jewel (invisible) of the Order of St. Louis, suspended from a ribbon around his neck. A pedestal and an urn occupy the background on the left. The second and third sons of the Dauphin (1729–65) and his second wife, Marie-Josèphe de Saxe, grandsons of Louis XV, both became Kings of France – the Duc de Berry as Louis XVI (1754–1793; succ.1774; deposed 1792) and the Comte de Provence (1755–1824; succ.1795/1814) as Louis XVIII.
Provenance
Purportedly – but highly doubtfully – from the Petit Trianon; subsequently in the collection of Hollingworth Magniac (1786–1867), the taipan and great collector (advised by J. C. Robinson), who rococonised Colworth House, Sharnbrook, Beds., and at one time owned Chesterfield House, London; his son, Charles Hollingworth Magniac, known as the Colworth collection; his posthumous sale, Christie’s, 2–15 July 1892, lot 120 as by ‘Nicholas Bel’; bt. [Charles?] Davis, 1010 guineas (presumably on behalf of – otherwise, simply sold to – ) William Waldorf, 1st Viscount Astor (1848–1919); his son, Waldorf, 2nd Viscount (1879–1952), by whom given to the National Trust with the house in 1942.
Marks and inscriptions
Verso: circular printed label: MAGNIAC COLLECTION; in ink in centre of that: 120
Makers and roles
François Hubert Drouais (Paris 1727 - Paris 1775), artist Alexis-Simon Belle (Paris 1674 – Paris 1734), artist