Attributed to Stanislas Leszczynski, King of Poland (Lwów, 1677- Lunéville, 1766 )Portrait of the Swedish King Charles XII (Karl XII) (1682 - 1718) Miniature on vellum, early 18th centuryOverlapping : 7.3 x 5.5 cmOld manuscript on reverse (fig. 1): "Portrait / of the King of Sweden / Carle XII very re -/semblent (sic) / painted / by King Stanislas/ of Poland at Deux Pont l'anné (sic) / 1717" and in another hand: "and given by him to the Count of Bethune/ his Chamberlain". On a card (3 of hearts) hanging on the reverse, old manuscript (fig. 2): "Passed to Mde/ de Salis / from the estate / of Mde de Bethune / his mother / in 1809". Rectangular gilt cast brass frame from the 19th century. Provenance: From the collection of Louis Marie Victor de Béthune (1670-1744), count of Selles, marshal of camp (1734), grand chamberlain in Lunéville of Stanislas Leszczynski, king of Poland; then from his son Joachim Casimir Léon de Béthune (1724-1769); coll. of his widow Mme de Béthune, née Antoinette Crozat de Thiers (1731-1809); his daughter Louise-Charlotte de Béthune, wife of Tatius Rodolphe Gilbert de Salis (1752-1820); perhaps the collection of his only son born in the first marriage René de la Tour du Pin (1779-1832). Private collection. Stanislas Leszczynski, a patron of the arts, was attracted to drawing and painting from childhood. The few dated works that have been preserved of him are spread throughout his life, but those that have survived correspond mainly to his period in Lorraine. "Stanislas also practised miniature painting, notably in the company of his doctor and friend Casten Rönnow (1700-1787), as indicated in the catalogue of the 2004-2005 Nancy exhibition, which brought the total number of his works listed to 23 (mainly pastels and very few miniatures). Many of them are known only by mentions, as Stanislas liked to distribute his works to his entourage. This miniature is to be placed very early in his production, well before the teaching he received from Jean Girardet in Nancy and the company of Casten Rönnow in Lorraine. According to the handwritten note on the reverse, it was painted in 1717 by King Stanislas during his exile in the principality of Deux-Ponts, which was then in the orbit of Sweden. Stanislaus was indeed there in 1717; as for his friend and protector Charles XII, he had much to do to restore his power. The miniature, which shows him here in a blue jacket and waistcoat revealing his armour, testifies to the loyalty that Stanislaus showed him in adversity. It is to be compared with the Equestrian Portrait of Charles XII, a larger miniature (26.5 x 29 cm) painted in March 1712 in Sweden by King Stanislaus and admiringly captioned by him when Charles XII had just been defeated at Poltava and was a prisoner of the Turks in Moldavia: "justice Wisdom firmness greatness of soul and value would make (sic) this Portrait better than art and my color" (Stockholm, Drottningholm National Museum). Voltaire himself was fascinated by this warrior-monarch who brought Sweden-Finland to its highest degree of power before throwing it into chaos. In 1731, he published a History of the Swedish King Charles XII, which was reprinted and improved many times until 1768, a means for the philosopher to question the purpose of the royal function, and a witness to a cultural evolution that produced a different relationship between the king and war at the beginning of the Enlightenment. Stanislaus, for his part, used his brush to express his unfailing gratitude to the man who protected him in difficult times. Bibliography: Jan Ostrowski, in Le pays lorrain, 1972, p. 189-193; "Stanislas un roi de Pologne en Lorraine", Musée lorrain Nancy 17 December 2004 - 21 March 2005, notably fig. 8 .