Portrait of Madame de Barral by Nicolas de Largillierre circa 1715

A very beautiful portrait of Madame de Barral.
She is depicted full-frontal, half-bust, in front of a backdrop of tall trees at dusk. Her face, with its pearly complexions and pink-accented cheekbones, is flooded with light and tirelessly attracts the viewer, whom she gazes at serenely, with a faint smile that lends her an endearing good nature.
This effect is reinforced by the two curls that frame her face and finish off her beautiful powdered hair.
This hair, arranged "à la Fontage," is made up of several layers of curls adorned with pearls and a velvet headdress topped with a pompom. She wears a rich outfit consisting of a purple velvet cape lined with silver satin with metallic highlights over an orange silk dress finely embroidered with floral scrolls and adorned with a lace collar.
Her dress, which is very low-cut, is held in place by a precious stone clasp across her torso.

Beautifully preserved, canvas and original gilt oak frame.

Nicolas de Largillierre (1656-1746), late Louis XIV period, circa 1710-1715.

Dimensions: Frame: Height: 9100 cm; Width: 75 cm; Canvas: Height: 789 cm; Width: 63 cm

The portrait we present is identified as that of Madame de Barral thanks to the existence of a large pair of paintings depicting a couple portrayed as Diana and Apollo by Nicolas de Largillierre. This pair of portraits, formerly in the collection of the great art lover Louis La Caze (1798-1869), is now held by the Louvre Museum (No. MI1079 and MI1083) and currently on loan to the Musée de Pau. Our opinion: Our portrait is characteristic of the female portraits painted by Nicolas de Largillierre at the end of the Louis XIV era, that is, in the years 1710-1715. The painter used a successful pose during this period that is recurrent in his work and is notably visible in the presumed portrait of Madame la Duchesse de Beaufort kept at the Cognac-Jay Museum (inv. No. J72) and dated 1714.
The painting we are presenting combines all the successful ingredients that the famous painter used at that time, the pearly complexions, the powdered hair delicately highlighted with blue, and the lively rendering and thickness of the textiles that shimmer in the light. The clothing and headdress are treated with a wide palette of very vivid colors, accentuated by impasto, but for the face, Largillierre uses no artifice, just a smooth, porcelain-like paint with pink highlights that gives the subject a very sympathetic character and demonstrates his talent as a portraitist.
Our painting was most likely created a few years or months before the Diana composition in the Louvre Museum. Unlike the latter, which is a large allegorical subject meant to be seen from a distance, our work is a portrait with more lively complexions and probably more faithful to the features of its commissioner.
The great satisfaction with the latter probably led to the second, more expensive commission of the two paintings of the couple depicted half-length in the Louvre Museum.