Portrait of a Womanc. 1748 · Study 1948.183

Context from the museum

Jean-Marc Nattier was a favorite portraitist of King Louis XV of France. He held the lucrative position as the court painter for Queen Mary Lesczynski, the daughter of the exiled king of Poland. The portrait was long thought to be of Madame Henriette de France, one of the daughters of Louis XV and Queen Mary Lesczynski, but this identification is no longer accepted and the sitter remains unknown. There has been considerable confusion over the identity of many of Nattier's sitters, as they tend to conform to an idealized concept of female beauty.

Museum description reproduced from its CC0 open-access record. Read the original catalog entry.

A detail to notice

Though the sitters in his portraits often lack individualized traits, Nattier was fervently sought by French aristocratic women.

Observation supplied by the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Read the dimensions before the image

The selected unframed measurement for Portrait of a Woman is 65 cm wide and 82 cm high, equivalent to approximately 25.6 × 32.3 inches. Dividing width by height gives a format ratio of 0.79:1. The rectangular bounding area is 0.53 square meters; it describes the measured footprint, not the amount of paint or the monetary value.

On an illustrative 300 cm wall, the recorded width occupies 21.7% of the span before adding a frame. A centered placement leaves approximately 117.5 cm on each side before adding a frame. These are calculations by Physical Art For Crypto using museum measurements. They are not the museum’s display recommendations.

Questions to bring to your own collection

With Portrait of a Woman in view, identify one feature you can point to, then distinguish what the museum records from your personal response. Keep its medium, oil on canvas, in your notes when comparing contemporary works.

• Which part of this vertical composition catches your eye first?
• Would a 65 cm width still suit the space after allowing for furniture and a frame?
• What surface detail would you need to see in person or in a close photograph?