Workshop of Jacob Ferdinand Voet, Portrait of Duchess Hortense Mancini, 1670, Oil on Canvas, Framed

Jacob Ferdinand Voet (Antwerp 1639 – Paris 1689)
Atelier
Portrait of the Young Hortense Mancini, Duchess of La Meilleraye (Rome 1646 – Chelsea 1699)

Oil on canvas
75 x 61 cm - Fine gilded and lacquered double-framed frame 105 x 61 cm.

This beautiful painting, depicting the young and attractive Duchess Hortense Mancini, is part of the refined portraiture of Jacob Ferdinand Voet (Antwerp 1639 – Paris 1689). Of Flemish origins, the painter achieved enormous success among the aristocratic families of Rome—where he stayed from 1663 to 1679—thanks to the famous series of portraits commissioned by Cardinal Flavio Chigi, depicting the most enchanting women of the time, now housed in the Palazzo Chigi in Ariccia.

The paintings became so popular that the artist was repeatedly asked to reproduce replicas and similar versions: the "cabinet des dames" (ladies' cabinet) thus became one of the Roman fashions of the 17th century, thus justifying the large number of female portraits attributable to his workshop now on the market.

In his portraits, Voet displayed a distinctive softness and grace in the rendering of skin tones, a subtle voluptuousness in the depiction of lips, entrusted to small brushstrokes of red, and a sense of calm fixity in the pose—all characteristics that are immediately reflected in the work under consideration.

Our young subject, Hortense Mancini, Duchess of La Meilleraye (Rome 1646 – Chelsea 1699), was the favorite niece of Cardinal Jules Mazarin, chief advisor to the young King of France, Louis XIV, and mistress of Charles II, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland. She was the fourth of the five famous Mancini sisters (along with Laura, Olimpia, Maria, and Maria Anne) and often posed for Voet.

Among her many works, we can mention the Portrait of Hortense Mancini from the Louvre, and of course the one from Palazzo Chigi.

The painting, in particular, is a derivation of the canvas depicting 'Maria Mancini reading the fortune for her sister Hortense', created by the painter around 1661 and now held in the Royal Collections at Windsor Castle [1].

In this work, we see the two Mancini sisters, portrayed half-length, with Hortense, just fifteen years old, having her palm read by Maria. She is dressed simply, in a soft, white dress that leaves her shoulders bare and a red cloak that she holds gracefully, without any ostentatious accessories or jewelry. The beauty inherent in her youth is the true protagonist of the canvas.

[1] Jacob Ferdinand Voet, Maria Mancini Reading the Fortune of Her Sister Hortense, Windsor Castle

The painting is completed by a wonderful, richly crafted double-framed frame in gilded and lacquered wood.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and an iconographic .