Jean Raoux Montpellier 1677 - 1734 Paris

By tradition, the painting has never left the collection of the present owner's family.

The actual painting is a bit warmer in tone and has less contrast in its colours than the catalogue illustration suggests. The canvas has a relining. The original canvas consists of two pieces, joined horizontally and the seam is slightly visible to the front. Overall the paint layer is in good condition and well preserved, but at some places the surface has a tendency towards flaking, for example to the left of the lady's head and shoulder and to the right of her arm and leg. There are several filled and retouched damages or paint losses visible: two retouched strips spanning the painting's width at the top (visible in the catalogue illustration) and spots in the upper sky. Scattered spots of retouchings visible over the lady's body, in her left arm, and hands, legs and feet as well as a few spots to the right of her in the foliage. Discoloured retouchings visible in the lower right area. The lady's face is beautifully preserved. Inspection under UV-light confirms abovementioned retouchings and reveals additional ones in the foliage to the right of the lady, in the water lower right and in the rock behind her. Offered in a very decorative Louis XVI-style gilt frame, in very good condition. (JD)
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Being received as a full member of the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in Paris in 1717, on the same day as Antoine Watteau, Raoux was one of the most influential portrait painters of the first quarter of the 18th Century.  Although he is best known for having developed a new formula of bust-length representations of women in fancy dress featuring an almost Rembrandtesque lighting, Raoux's more conventional portraits foreshadow the work of Jean-Marc Nattier, France's most celebrated portraitist of the 18th Century.

This portrait of a hitherto unknown sitter is a prime example of the monumentality that some of Raoux large-scale portraits possess. Compare for example Raoux's portrait of the Marquise de Changey in the guise of a shepherdess, sold London, Sotheby's, 16 April, 1997, lot 200. It is in this and in the present work that the artist fully achieved to capture the contemporary taste for grandeur and classicizing flattery of sitters, who were mostly young women from the periphery of the Parisian court society.