Pair of embroidered portraits of Maria Leszczyńska and Louis XV
karta katalogowa kolekcji
Malarstwo
Anonymous artist, after Pierre-François Cozette
France, Paris
after 1760
Linen, wool, silk, wood, cardboard, leather; half cross-stitch embroidery on linen canvas
50 x 43 cm and 52 x 43 cm
Wil.1139 (portrait of Louis XV), Wil.1140 (portrait of Maria Leszczyńska)
Looking at these portraits of Maria Leszczyńska, daughter of the king of Poland, and her husband, King Louis XV of France, it is difficult to believe that these likenesses, whose force of expression is on par with paintings, had been “painted with a needle”. Executed with extraordinary precision on a linen canvas, they feature the delightful painterly effects of discreetly sparkling silk threads, accentuating the glimmering costumes and the glittering gold and jewels. A sophisticated pattern of colours and a skilful delineation of the limits of particular planes endowed expression comparable to paintbrush strokes on canvas.
Creating the portraits, the anonymous artist sought inspiration in works by Pierre-François Cozette. Stanisław Kostka Potocki, who purchased the likenesses in Paris with the intention to present them to his aunt, Katarzyna Kossakowska, wife of the castellan of Kamień, highly appreciated their artistic worth. In a letter written on 25 October 1787 to his wife, Aleksandra, he requested: Stress suitably the magnificence of this truly beautiful gift.
Dominika Walawender-Musz
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