An allegorical gouache in its original frame
A Louis XIV gilt bronze-framed gouache – circa 1701
French school, 18th Century
An allegory of the betrothal of the Duke of Anjou
Frame height: 21 cm. (8 ¼ in.) Frame width: 29.5 cm. (11 ½ in.)
This gouache represents the engagement of the Duke of Anjou, the future Philip V of Spain, to Marie-Louise of Savoy, whose marriage took place on 2 November 1701 in Figueres (on the Franco-Spanish border, in Catalonia). Philip’s wife, as chosen by his grandfather Louis XIV, was the second surviving daughter of Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy. Her elder sister Marie-Adélaïde had already married the Dauphin and would be the mother of the future Louis XV.