Jean-Baptiste Santerre

Anonymous sale, Paris, Sotheby's, June 23, 2004, lot 11;
There purchased by the present owners.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting is in lovely condition. The canvas has an old French lining, which is very effective. The paint layer is well textured, and has been cleaned and varnished recently. In the face, the headdress and most of the figure, there do not appear to be any restorations, except for a spot or two in the black velvet of the sitter's left arm. In the background, there are some isolated spots of retouching in the upper left. There are two vertical lines of what appears to be a more exaggerated canvas weave and one faintly visible diagonal scrape in the upper left that are retouched. The diagonal restoration may correspond to a break in the canvas. However, the condition is very good and the work should be hung in its current condition.
"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."

This refined and evocative portrait is thought to depict Mademoiselle Christine-Antoinette-Charlotte Desmares (1682-1753), niece and student of the celebrated Parisian actress, Mademoiselle de Champmeslé (1642-1698).  Desmares, known as Lolotte, made her stage debut at Comédie Française, Paris at the age of six and enjoyed instant success.  She soon became a permanent member of the theater troupe and succeeded her aunt as lead comedienne.  A number of versions of the portrait are known; the prime version, entitled La femme au billet doux (Lady with a love letter) was bought by Francois Tronchin (1704-1798), Councilor of the State of Geneva in the eighteenth century and remained in the Tronchin family thereafter, though its present whereabouts are unknown and another version is now in the Boston Museum of Fine Art (inv. no. 47.245.).¹  The portrait was engraved in 1708 by Nicolas Chasteau (circa 1680-1750) and a copy of the engraving is housed in the Comédie Française today, accompanied by a poem, inscribed below the image:

A me voir, j’ai les traits d’une beauté divine
Les yeuz noirs et brillants, un teinte vif e charmant
Mai j’ai l’espirit d’une étoffe si fine
Que j’en donne à garder au plus subtil amant

To look at, I have the qualities of a beauty divine
Eyes shining and black, a bright and lovely complexion
But I have the wit of sweet conversation
Which I give for only the subtlest lover to keep.

Jean-Baptiste Santerre trained under François Lemaire and later Bon Boullogne and was accepted at the Académie Royale in 1704, presenting a Susannah and the Elders, now in the Louvre, Paris (inv. no. 7836).  He was employed under the patronage of King Louis XIV of France who paid the artist a stipend and gave him lodgings in the Louvre.  He continued to receive prestigious commissions following the king’s death, and worked as peintre ordinaire to the Regent for the remainder of his career.


1.  C. Lesné and F. Waro, Jean Baptiste Santerre, 1651-1717, exhibition catalogue, Valhermeil 2011, p. 81, reproduced.