Female Portraiture and Patronage in Marie Antoinette's Court by Grant, Sarah;

Short description:

This comprehensive book brings to light the portraits, private collections, and public patronage of the princesse de Lamballe, a pivotal member of Marie-Antoinette’s inner circle.

Long description:

This comprehensive book brings to light the portraits, private collections and public patronage of the princesse de Lamballe, a pivotal member of Marie-Antoinette’s inner circle. Drawing extensively on unpublished archival sources, Sarah Grant examines the princess’s many portrait commissions and the rich character of her private collections, which included works by some of the period’s leading artists and artisans. The book sheds new light on the agency, sorority and taste of Marie-Antoinette and her friends, a group of female patrons and model of courtly collecting that would be extinguished by the coming revolution.

"Employing a wide range of archival sources and covering a large portion of Lamballe’s life and oeuvre, Grant creates a full and complex picture of the princess. She successfully illustrates that Lamballe has been both under- and misrepresented and that Lamballe was a significant member of court. Grant’s detailed accounting sheds new light on not only Lamballe and her magnificent collections, but also on the women of Marie-Antoinette’s circle, their relationships, and how art functioned in their court."

--H-France Review

Table of Contents:

Introduction Chapter 1: From wife to widow: early portraits of the princesse de Lamballe Chapter 2: Paying court: careerism, sentiment and sorority in portraits of the princesse de Lamballe Chapter 3: The Anglophile princesse de Lamballe: portraits, prints, gardens and Anglomania at the court of Marie-Antoinette Chapter 4: 'Protector of the Fine Arts': the private collection and public patronage of the princesse de Lamballe, a courtier-collector Chapter 5 Epilogue Bibliography Index