French School (17th Century), Portrait of Madame de Sévigné

Oil on canvas (lined), not signed, presented in a carved frame.

Stretcher size 30 1/4 x 25 in.; Frame dimensions 40 x 35 1/8 in.

Madame Marie de Rabutin-Chantal (French, 1626-1696), Marquise de Sévigné, was a French aristocrat famous for her letters, especially those to her daughter, Françoise-Marguerite de Sévigné. Her vivid, witty, and insightful correspondences, which she became revered for, offer insight into 17th-century French society and court life under Louis XIV. Though her letters were private, they were later published and are now considered classics of French literature. Recently, her story was made into a film Madame de Sévigné (2023), directed by Isabelle Brocard.

Presented with this lot is a copy of Francis Mossiker's Madame de Sévigné: A Life and Letters (NY: Knopf, 1983), First Edition.

The painting has been lined, with areas of restoration and retouching. The book is in good condition with foxing.