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La Duchesse de la Vallière contemplant un enfant de Louis XIV et de Mme. de Montespan
La Duchesse de la Vallière contemplant un enfant de Louis XIV et de Mme. de Montespan
La Duchesse de la Vallière contemplant un enfant de Louis XIV et de Mme. de Montespan

La Duchesse de la Vallière contemplant un enfant de Louis XIV et de Mme. de Montespan

After (French, 1789-1863)
Engraver (French, active 18th century)
Colorer (French, active late 18th - early 19th centuries)
Datecirca 1820
MediumHand-colored engraving
DimensionsSheet: 17 5/8 x 14 3/8 in. (44.7 x 36.5 cm)
Plate: 15-5/8 x 11-3/16 in. (39.8 x 28.5 cm)
Credit LineUniversity Transfer from Max Epstein Archive, Gift of Mrs. C. Phillip Miller, 1963
Collections
Object number1967.116.160f
Status
Not on view
Description
In the immediate aftermath of the French Revolution, demand crumbled for color prints or anything else strongly associated with aristocratic decadence.  Thus, an austere Neoclassical aesthetic of crisp black-and-white lines replaced the sensuous colors and boudoir themes of the earlier period.  Slightly later, however, a nostalgia for the old monarchy crept in, especially after the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty to the French throne in 1815.  This series of eight prints narrates the life of Mademoiselle de la Vallière, who had been the mistress of the young King Louis XIV in the 1660s.  Their liaison did not last, however. After enduring the humiliation of meeting a child fathered by Louis with another woman, Mlle de la Vallière entered a convent. Surely the decision to represent this historical romance through an outmoded color print medium—one rich in connotations of luxury and sensual pleasure—was not accidental.