Lot 239: Charles Beaubrun , Amboise 1604 - 1692 Paris Portrait of Anne of Austria, Queen of France (1601-1666), seated, three-quarter length, dressed in an ermine gown oil on canvas, in a painted oval

oil on canvas, in a painted oval

measurements note 148.5 by 115.5 cm.; 58 1/2 by 45 1/2 in.

The sitter was the eldest daughter of King Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria and was married to the fourteen year old Louis XIV of France in November 1615. She gave birth to the future Louis XIV in 1638 and to his brother Philippe, later Duc d'Orléans in 1640. After the death of Louis XIII she reigned as Regent of France from 1643 to 1651.

Trained by his uncle Louis, Charles Beaubrun, along with his cousin Henri, worked as a portrait painter in the courts of both Louis XIII and XIV. He executed numerous portraits of each of their queens, although he was rarely given much room for innovation, instead having to conform to strict rules of the court. A later portrait of Maria-Theresa of Austria, Louis XIV's queen, for example, is remarkably similar to the present, earlier portrait of Anne of Austria, in both the pose of the sitter and the chosen setting, and indeed she wears the same regal gown as Anne.