15 - Louise Élisabeth VIGÉE LE BRUN (Paris, 1755–1842).

Louise Élisabeth VIGÉE LE BRUN (Paris, 1755–1842). Portrait of Charlotte-Jeanne Béraud de La Haye de Riou, Marquise de Montesson (1738–1806). Pastel on five sheets of paper mounted on an oval canvas. Signed and dated lower right “Mde Le Brun / 1779.” 80 × 63.5 cm. (Previous restorations) Original frame (damaged). Provenance: - Collection of the sitter, the Marquise de Montesson, morganatic widow of the First Prince of the Blood, Louis-Philippe d’Orléans (1725‒1785); - Inherited by her knight-in-waiting, Jean-Baptiste Cyrus de Timbrune de Thiembronne, General Count of Valence (1757–1822). In 1784, he married Pulchérie-Félicité-Edmée-Nicole Brûlart de Genlis (1767‒1847); - Collection of their daughter Louise-Rose-Aimée de Timbrune-Thiembronne de Valence (1789–1860). In 1816, she married Étienne Maurice, Count Gérard, Marshal of France (1773–1852), in Brussels; - Collection of their son, Louis-Maurice-Fortuné, Count Gérard (1819–1880); - Collection of her daughter Louise-Rose-Etiennette, known as Rosemonde Gérard (1866‒1953). She married Edmond Rostand (1868‒1918) in 1890; - The Edmond Rostand Collection; - The collection has remained in the family through direct descent. Bibliography: - Memoirs of Madame Louise-Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, of the Royal Academy of Paris, of Rouen, of Saint-Luc in Rome and Arcadia, of Parma and Bologna, of Saint Petersburg, of Berlin, of Geneva, and of Avignon, Paris, 1835, vol. I, pp. 143‒144; - W. H. Helm, Vigée-Lebrun 1755‒1842: Her Life, Works, and Friendships, London and Aylesbury, [1915], pp. 61 and 212; - G. Haroche-Bouzinac, Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun: Histoire d'un regard, Paris, 2011, p. 88; - Exhibition catalog, Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, ed. by J. Baillio and X. Salmon, Paris, Grand Palais, National Galleries, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada, 2015–2016, cited under no. 83, p. 214 (location unknown); - Exhibition catalog *One Hundred Portraits for a Century. From the Court to the City under the Reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI, edited by X. Salmon, Versailles, Musée Lambinet, November 6, 2019–March 1, 2020, cited under no. 22, reproduced in fig. 1 on p. 57; - Neil Jeffares’s website, accessed in July 2025, *Dictionary of Pastellists*, no. J.76.3055. Our pastel is the companion piece to the *Portrait of the 'First Prince of the Blood',* Louis Philippe de Bourbon, Duke of Orléans, known as “the Fat Duke,” wearing the insignia of the Orders of the Holy Spirit, the Golden Fleece, and Saint Louis (pastel, 80 × 61 cm, signed and dated 1779, Paris, private collection). These two pastels are the two original portraits, certainly painted in the presence of the models, commissioned in 1779 and paid for at 480 livres each. Until now, we were only familiar with the Portrait of the Duke, as our pastel remained in the possession of the marquise and then passed to the descendants of her close friend, the Count of Valence. In 1754, Charlotte Jeanne Béraud de La Haye de Riou married the Marquis Jean-Baptiste de Montesson, who was 50 years her senior, and who introduced her to the court of Versailles. Her fortune increased considerably upon the death of her only brother, the Marquis de la Haie de Riou, a gentleman and senior gendarmerie officer, who was killed at the Battle of Minden (1759). Madame de Montesson’s excellent reputation, her beauty, her talents, her amiability, and her kind nature made her highly sought after in society. After becoming a widow in 1769, the marquise secretly entered into a second marriage on April 23, 1773, with Duke Louis-Philippe d’Orléans, known as “Le Gros” (1725–1785), father of Philippe-Égalité and grandfather of King Louis-Philippe. Her son, then Duke of Chartres, strongly opposed this union, which was considered a misalliance. King Louis XVI authorized the marriage on the condition that it remain secret for as long as possible. Charlotte Jeanne thus became a morganatic wife, unable to bear the title of Duchess of Orléans or enjoy the rank of first princess of the blood. The couple then led a secluded life at the Château de Raincy and the Château de Sainte-Assise in Seine-Port (Seine-et-Marne). Upon the death of the Duke of Orléans in 1785, the king forbade the marquise from wearing conspicuous mourning attire or requiring her servants to do so. She suffered deeply from this lack of official recognition. A renowned woman of letters and patron of the arts, Charlotte Jeanne, Marquise de Montesson, died on February 5, 1806. Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun produced two original portraits in pastel and five replicas, both in pastel and oil. The two pastels in the Louvre (acquired in 2014) are two of the five replicas created by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun. Painted quickly (the duke is not wearing the Golden Fleece) and at a lower cost, they were intended as a gift for the Marquis de Roncherolles, chief chamberlain to the Duke of Orléans. We thank Joseph Bail