External Dimensions
27.50inch framed width
34.50inch framed height
(69.85 cm framed width 87.63 cm framed height)
Description
Oil on canvas in early 19th c. frame.
Louise Renée de Penancoët de Kérouaille, 1st Duchess of Portsmouth, Countess of Fareham, Baroness Petersfield in the English peerage and Duchesse d'Aubigny in France. (1649 – 1734).
Considered by the taste of the time to be a great beauty, she became a mistress of Charles II for which service she was rewarded with titles, wealth and status; their son, Charles, was created Duke of Richmond and Lennox.
After the death of King Charles in 1685 the Duchess fell from favour in England and retired to France where she lived on her estates at Aubigny.
Louise, like Charles's other mistresses, was a 'pin-up' of her day and many versions of her portraits were sold in England and France.
Among her descendants are Lady Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales; Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Sarah, Duchess of York.
PIERRE MIGNARD (1610-95) French Court portraitist. All the beauties and celebrities of his day sat to him. His readiness and skill, plus his happy instinct for grace of arrangement, made him popular and his style very influential.
His portrait of Louise painted in 1682, when she made a triumphant visit to France, is in the National Portrait Gallery.
SIZE: 34.5 x 27.5 inches inc. frame.
CONDITION: good; relined.
PROVENANCE: Private Collection.
Status
Sold
