Musées de Langres – Maison des Lumières Denis Diderot – Musée d'Art et d'Histoire

This portrait of a woman was believed to be by Jean Ranc until 1983, when it was reattributed to Nicolas de Largillière (1656–1746). Largillière was one of France’s three major portraitists between the end of the reign of Louis XIV and the first half of the 18th century, together with François de Troy (1645–1730) and Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659–1743). The sitter is depicted as Diana the Huntress accompanied by her dogs. From the Renaissance onward, ladies were often portrayed in the guise of classical figures, in order to extol their beauty and character. Such portraits lent the attributes of divinities, or even saints, to the real persons they featured and were very popular at the time. The work’s vertical composition and refined colour plate, together with the elegance of the sitter’s pose, suggest the influence of English portraiture, notably Van Dyck and Peter Lely, who had a strong influence on Largillière’s generation.