Jean-Martial Frédou

(French, 1711-1795)

Portrait of Louis-Joseph-Xavier of France, Duke of Burgundy, Versailles

oil on canvas

23 1/2 x 19 3/4 inches.

Provenance:

William & Eleanor Wood Prince, Chicago

Sold: Christie's, New York, February 10, 2009, Lot 82 (as Attributed to François-Hubert Drouais (French, 1727-1775) and titled Portrait of a Young Nobleman)

The present work is a copy of a portrait currently in the collection of the Chateau de Versailles. The artist, Jean-Martial Frédou, was Copyist of the King's Cabinet, and responsible for duplicating the portraits of members of the royal family painted by Nattier, La Tour, Natoire, Louis-Michel Vanloo, Roslin, and Duplessis. He was also a portraitist in his own right. Between 1760 and 1762, Frédou produced eleven portraits of the Children of France at the request of their mother, the Dauphine Marie-Josèphe de Saxe, including possibly the present example. These were painted either in oil or drawn with three pencils (black chalk, red chalk and white chalk) enhanced with pastel. The drawn portraits were almost certainly done from the live model, as the technique lent itself to shorter posing sessions.

The Duke of Burgundy (September 13, 1751 – March 22, 1761) was the eldest son of the Dauphin Louis, himself the son of Louis XV. As a French prince of the House of Bourbon, Louis-Xavier-Joseph was second-in-line to the throne of France, ranking only behind his father. Sadly, the boy died at the young age of nine from tuberculosis. In the present portrait, the child appears dressed in a sumptuously embroidered garment and wears the badges of the Order of the Holy Spirit and the Order of the Golden Fleece, with a tricorn partially visible under his left arm. With his soft gaze and slight smile, the artwork is an exceptional example of Frédou's ability to capture his sitter's psychological acuity and humanity.