Archduchess Marie Antoinette, Dauphine of France

Paris, dated 1771, Artist: Jean Baptiste Lemoyne II

 

 

Archduchess Marie Antoinette, Dauphine of France

Marie Antoinette is depicted in the year of her marriage at the age of 15. As wife of the French dauphin the later queen carried the traditional title dauphine. This marble bust was commissioned by Marie Antoinette's father-in-law King Louis XV as a present to her mother Empress Maria Theresa. Lemoyne, Court sculptor to the King, worked at the bust for over a year before he was able to present it in Versailles on September 15th, 1771. Louis XV and the art critics of the day celebrated the bust as the most important work of the aged artist. The graceful, elegant fluidity of the lines and the vivid physical likeness achieved inspite of intended idealisation make this sculpture a perfect example of the aristocratic taste of that period.

Location: Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Kunstkammer Wien Raum XIX

Object data

Object Name

portrait head; bust

Culture

Paris

Dated

Paris, dated 1771

Artist

Jean Baptiste Lemoyne II (Paris 1704 - 1778 Paris) - GND

Material

Marble

Dimensions

H. 78,5 cm, W. 54 cm, D. 36 cm

Signed

Marie Antoinette Josephe Jeanne d'Autriche Archiduchesse Dauphine de France Par I.B. Lemoyne De Paris 1771

Image rights

Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Kunstkammer

Inv. No.

Kunstkammer, 5478

Provenance

1875 Coll. Ambras, III, 23, p.155; 1871 a.d. Sch.K. (Acq.J., p.2); 1772 as a gift from Louis XV. to Maria Theresia; 1770 commissioned by Marie Antoinette

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