Jean-Francois Janinet,
Marie Antoinette, a
print after Jean-Baptiste-André Gautier-Dagoty
France, AD 1777
Mixed method colour print on two sheets of
paper
Marie Antoinette (1755-1793) married Louis XVI
in 1770 and became Queen of France at his accession to the throne
in 1774. Her full-length, signed and dated portrait by
Gautier-Dagoty was probably painted to mark that occasion.
Gautier-Dagoty's younger brother Louis reproduced the
painting in a
mezzotint
that was so widely ridiculed for its clumsiness that the painter
probably turned to Janinet for a more skilful
reproduction.
Janinet
(1752-1814) had worked with Bonnet in his late teens, and quickly
acquired the latter's mastery of
crayon
manner and
pastel
manner printmaking. They later collaborated on Bonnet's
ambitious programme of publishing colour prints. This portrait of
Marie Antoinette is printed in yellow, blue, red, and black inks
from four plates and cut to an oval. The decorative frame is
printed on a separate sheet of paper in blue, orange and gold inks
from three plates, and the portrait is pasted in the
centre.
The doll-like face
of the nineteen year-old queen has been reduced in size to allow
the inclusion of her elaborate dress and fantastic coiffure. The
portrait is further overwhelmed by the richly decorated frame, with
its gilded foliage and blue
marbling.
Impressions
of this print are rare, either because its illegal use of gold in
the frame prompted the authorities to forbid production, or
possibly because it was expensive and did not find favour with the
public.
V. Carlson and J. Ittmann, Regency to empire: French prin, exh. cat. (Baltimore Museum of Art, 1984)