File:Studio of Charles & Henri Beaubrun - Portrait of a lady.png

"This portrait is an excellent example of the Baroque Beaubrun portrait style. Beautifully composed, the sitter is almost half length, before a landscape. The tonality and the artist’s colouring is certainly more redolent of the less brash palettes found among Dutch artists of the period. The painting abounds with ingenious flourishes and demonstrations of the painter's skill. A remarkable care is exercised, for example, in the painting of the sitter's face and hands and the treatment of the shimmering drapery. This portrait resembles closely other paintings attributed to the Beaubrun cousins which often present the sitter with long hands and fingers, being an idealisation of female beauty at the time, and the contour between the neck and shoulder is a Beaubrun trademark. The sitter bears a resemblance to Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier (1627-1693) called “La Grande Mademoiselle” - and she favoured the large feather headdress. It is also worth noting that a ‘portrait of a lady’ also bears a striking resemblance (offered at Sotheby’s New York, 28 Jan 2011, lot 49, estimate $20,000 - $30,000) to that of our portrait. Posing beside a fountain, perhaps within the family estate, the beautiful sitter’s silver dress is of the finest material, and it has full, loose sleeves ending just below the elbow - which was fashionable at mid century. A sheer scarf is knotted into a collar around her shoulders and a long pointed bodice is decorated with parchment lace. The hairstyle pulled back and with set corkscrew locks and short ones framing the face, typical of the 50s, is embellished by outstanding exotic plumage perched seemingly impossibly to the back of the head. This headdress was a status symbol and was often incorporated in baroque styles of the 1600s – sometimes in an allegorical or mythological portrait. Ostrich, guinea hens, and African storks were often used and held in place by wires and other supports and their use in portraits was neither meant as an exercise in realism nor to explore the sitters character, but to glorify the individual with godlike qualities. The accessory par excellence – pearls – are abundant. This obligatory accompaniment was popular since the 1630s. In 1665 the diarist Samuel Pepys accounted the purchase of a pearl necklace for his wife which in today money is over £10,000: “She was also to look after a necklace of pearl, which she is mighty busy about, I being contented to lay out 80 pounds in one for her”. France dictated fashions of Western Europe during much of the 17th century and the entirety of the 18th. The pinnacle was at the French court and more notably the Bourbon monarchs (Louis XIV to Louis XVI). France led in this area because England was wracked by civil war and Italy’s days of Renaissance glory were over. France developed into the main political and cultural power and from the mid century European rulers strove to imitate the powerful Sun King. France became the center for lace-making and silk and brocade manufacturing and its many goods were in high demand in other European countries. Presented in an outstanding antique gilt frame, 17th or 18th century. Charles and his cousin, Henri Beaubrun, belonged to a family of French portraitists of the 17th century. Henri was soon attached to King Louis XIII, thanks to his father's position as a wardrobe valet. The cousins collaborated between 1630 and 1675 and became painters of the King and painted many official portraits of which are now held in museums such as the Palace of Versailles and the Prado. As a result of this collaboration most of their work is attributed to the couple." [1]