*

Anonymous sale, New York, Sotheby's, 21 October 1988, lot 171 (as 'Attributed to Nicolas Mignard'), where acquired by the present owner.

E. Coquery, Visages du Grand Siècle: Le portrait français sous le règne de Louis XIV, 1660-1715, exhibition catalogue, Paris/ Nantes/ Toulouse 1997, p. 199, under no. 2, reproduced fig. III (as by Charles and Henri Beaubrun, whereabouts unknown).

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The original canvas is lined with a repaired and restored horizontal seam(?) and stretcher mark top. There are some small retouched areas to the left blue sleeve of Anne, and her dress , and to the background upper left and right in the foliage. The laces to Marie-Therese's bodice are worn. The varnish is discoloured and degraded and its removal would enhance the tonality of the composition."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Previously attributed to Nicolas Mignard, this elegant portrait was identified as the work of Charles and Henri Beaubrun by Emmanuel Coquery prior to the exhibition Visages du Grand Siècle in 1997-98. Coquery notes that it is an adaptation of a composition that exists in at least four other versions, depicting the same sitters, one of which is in Niort, Musée Bernard d'Agesci.¹ He dates all these works, including the present lot, to circa 1665.

1. Inv. no. 6 114; the others are in Paris, Musée du Louvre; Versailles, Musée National du Château; and Balleroy, Château.