Lot 43: - Jean-Baptiste van Loo , Aix-en-Provence 1684 - 1745 Portrait of Louis XV, King of France (1710-1774), full-length oil on canvas, in the original carved and gilt wood Regency frame

oil on canvas, in the original carved and gilt wood Regency frame

measurements note 197.5 by 142 cm.; 77 3/4 by 56 in.

Anonymous sale ('From a Private Collection'), New York, Christie's, 15 January 1986, lot 143.

This is one of several full-length portraits by Van Loo of the young Louis XV, and was probably executed in the year of his majority, 1723, when he took full control of government, wresting power from the Régent, his great-uncle Philippe, Duc d'Orléans. A slightly larger version (205 by 171 cm), in which the pose and surrounding paraphernalia mirrors that of the present work, is in the Château de Versailles,υ1 while another, in which Louis stands more front-on, his pointing right index-finger now tucked in, and with a different background arrangement, is also in Versailles.υ2 Further versions of this latter are in Nice, Musée Chéret and the Musée de Perpignan. The composition of all of these full-lengths would appear to derive from Van Loo's large equestrian portrait of Louis XV, painted in collaboration with Charles Parrocel, which was commissioned in 1723 by the Surintendance for Charles de Lorraine.υ3 Louis is depicted in similar armour and costume, astride his horse, similarly turned three-quarters to the left and his right arm outstretched. Most subsequent depictions of Louis followed this original design, including, for example, Carle Van Loo's 1751 full-length portrait which was exhibited at the Salon in that year.υ4 Donné Par Le Royam., 1. Inv. No. MV6942 ; see C. Constans et al., Musée National du Château de Versailles, vol. II, Paris 1995, p. 897, no. 5066, reproduced.
2. Inv. No. MV2175; Idem., p. 898, no. 5068, reproduced.
3. Inv. No. MV3749; Idem, p. 897, no. 5063, reproduced.
4. For a studio copy of which see Idem, p. 896, no. 5059, reproduced.