The sitter, named in an inscription on the reverse, is Marie Françoise de La Cropte de St. Abre, marquise d'Argence. This lady was the distant cousin of the archbishop, theologian, and poet François Fénelon (1651–1715). She was born at Surin, Vienne, on January 16, 1714. On February 17, 1744, the year she sat for Nattier, she was married in Paris to François Achard Joumard Tison d'Argence (1719–1793) and the couple had three children in the immediately succeeding years. The marquis d'Argence was descended from several families of great antiquity established principally in Angoulême and Périgueux. After a distinguished career in the military, he was wounded at the battle of Dettingen in 1743 and retired to Dirac, where later he became a correspondent of the philosopher Voltaire (1694–1778).
This straightforward half-length shows the young marquise in a ruffled chemise under a white dress with a pale gray pointed bodice trimmed with lace and pearls. An extravagant length of taffeta-like fabric is knotted at her breast. The trees, some with leafless branches, are unusual for a portrait in this format.
Katharine Baetjer 2013
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