Adolf Ulrik Wertmüller
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"Queen Marie-Antoinette" (1755-1793) & "King Louis XVI" (1754-1793) of France
Marie Antoinette signed A:W and dated 1793. Louis XIV signed A.W and dated 1785. Panel, each 16 x 13.5 cm. Period gilded frames.
Provenance
Pauline de Tourzel, Countess of Béarn (1771-1839) as a gift to Mademoiselle de Plas. (Pauline de Tourzel was a personal friend of the royal couple).
Previously in the collection of merchant Ernst Hirsch Elliot (1863-1927), Stockholm. (purchased in France).
Previously in the collection of Alice Tully, New York (1902-1993) sold through;
Christie's, New York 11 January 1996, lot 26.
Literature
Albin Roosval (ed.), "Svenska hem i ord och bilder", 1920, "The Home of Merchant Elliot", described p. 245, illustrated p. 250.
More information
The portrait of Queen Marie Antoinette, executed in 1793, serves as the prototype for Wertmüller's well-known image of Marie Antoinette from 1788 at Versailles. There are several versions in varying sizes created between 1788 and 1793. The queen is depicted in a brown hunting outfit with blue and yellow stripes and a creole hat adorned with roses. The portrait is the only known depiction of Marie Antoinette wearing this type of headgear, which originated in the French West Indies.
The bust-length portrait of King Louis XVI of France, is dated 1785. The king is portrayed wearing a silver-embroidered brown jacket and the Orders of Saint Louis, the Saint-Esprit and the (Spanish) Golden Fleece.