Madame la Comtesse d'Argenson

1743 · Private collection

portrait

The sitter, Anne Larcher, Countess d'Argenson, was the daughter of an enormously wealthy Councillor of the Paris Parlement, Pierre Larcher, Seigneur de Pocancy, from one of the most ancient and distinguished families. A great heiress, she was married shortly after her eleventh birthday to the scion of one of the most ancient noble families of Touraine, Marc-Pierre de Voyer, Comte dArgenson, Viscomte de Paulmy, Baron de la Haye (1696-1764). The Countess, a stately but beautiful woman of thirty-seven, wears a magnificent décolleté off-white satin gown held by a pearl belt and arm bracelets.

About the Artist

Jean-Marc Nattier

1685 – 1766

French portrait painter. His father, Marc (c. 1642-1705), was a painter and his mother, Marie Courtois (c. 1655-1703), was a miniaturist. He was one of the most successful artists at the court of Louis XV, excelling in the vogue for painting women in mythological or allegorical fancy dress - or undress - transforming his matrons into goddesses (Mme de Lambesc as Minerva, Louvre, Paris, 1737). His portraits are little concerned with individual characterization, but they show fluency, vivacity, and a relaxed charm. He was at his best with women and has been accused of 'painting with make-up', a comment that suggests the pastel-like delicacy of his handling. Taste was turning against him towards the end of his career and some of his later work shows signs of fatigue. His brother Jean-Baptiste was also a painter; he committed suicide after being expelled by the Académie.

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