The Tansey Miniatures Foundation

Die Miniatur Über den Künstler

The Tansey Miniatures Foundation

DE
The Miniature About the Artist

Lady as Naiad

French

Portrait of ladies as the personification of a spring was very popular in the first half of the 18th century.1 The lady here propped herself up on a vessel lying on its side and issuing water, an ancient theme in the representation of water gods and nymphs. Representing the continual renewal of nature, the water source is also a symbol of life, youth and love.
Trees and sky in the miniature’s background suggest a park landscape, whereas the foreground with its pale greenish shades suggests a reedy waterside. The blue-green cloth draped around the lady’s hips echoes the flow of the water, thus uniting both the concrete human reality and the allegorical. Furthermore, the gauzy muslin dress of the lady and her half-covered breast emphasise the erotic nature of the miniature.
J. S. O.

1 The miniaturists there picked up a topic that had its prototype in large-format painting, as it offers various possibilities for introducing the sensual erotic element in the guise of ancient mythology. As early as in the 16th century Lucas Cranach’s reclining naiad (1518) was a famous example. Typical of the rococo period are Watteau’s naiad (1717/18) and the ladies posing as naiads by the influential portraitist Jean-Marc Nattier: Marie-Henriette Berthelot de Pleneuf (Tokyo, National Museum of Western Art), Mille de Clermont, 1729 (Musée de Condé, Chantilly), Louise-Henriette de Bourbon-Conti, 1738 (Metropolitan Museum, New York).