The Tansey Miniatures Foundation

Die Miniatur Über den Künstler

The Tansey Miniatures Foundation

DE
The Miniature About the Artist

Eléonore Louise Marquise du Hallay (after Nattier)

French

The painter of this exceptional miniature copied in little a portrait by Jean-Marc Nattier, from 1751, representing the Marquise du Hallay.1 The miniature differs from the original only in minor details: the lady’s hair has slightly more volume, and the columns and the curtain in the background are extended at both sides (Nattier’s portrait shows a narrower section of the interior).
Eléonore Louise Le Gendre de Berville (1740-1761) married Emmanuel Agathe Du Hallay (1739-1826) in 1761.2 She died the same year while giving birth to a son, Emmanuel Louis Eléonore Agathe. Surprisingly, in Nattier’s painting the lady is shown as an eleven years old girl. The sitter however looks quite a bit older.
The sedateness of the columns in the left half of the picture is contrasted with the billowing movements of the rich green curtain, out of which the lady seems to emerge.3 It covers her left shoulder and breast, and she grasps the opulent fabric with both hands as if seeking for support. In spite of these classical components, this representation is unusual for a ruler’s portrait.
J. S. O./B. P.

1 Nattier's painting formerly belonged to the comte de Brigode (1850-1937) at Château de Follembray, whose mother was Annette du Hallay-Coëtquen. It was sold at the Galerie Charpentier, Paris (vente Modave), on 12 June 1936, lot 17, and again at Artcurial, Paris, on 23 March 2017, lot 142. We are grateful to Ólafur Thorvaldsson, Cambridge, for his comprehensive research on this miniature.
2 She war born on February 3, 1740. A plaque affixed to the frame of Nattier's painting indicates "1741" as year of the girl's birth.
3 The column and the curtain often are accessories in a ruler’s portrait. However, indications of a resemblance with the later wife of Frederick the Great, Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Bevern, a sister of Ferdinand and Therese Natalie, result to be wrong.