Artwork
Marie-Anne-Victoire, Infanta of Spain (1718-1781)
Marie-Anne-Victoire, Infanta of Spain (1718-1781) is an oil painting by the Rococo painting artist Alexis Simon Belle. It dates from 1723 and is held in the collection of the Palace of Versailles.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The composition emphasizes her position within the Spanish royal family while also highlighting French artistic patronage of Spanish dynastic figures.
The portrait shows Mariana Victoria of Spain seated in a park, holding a flower, and dressed in attire appropriate for a young Infanta. It was painted in 1723 by Alexis Simon Belle while she resided at the French court, reflecting both her royal status and youthful innocence. The composition emphasizes her position within the Spanish royal family while also highlighting French artistic patronage of Spanish dynastic figures.
The work is part of the Museum of the History of France collection at Versailles, underscoring its significance as a diplomatic and artistic artifact of early 18th-century European court culture.
Technique & Style
The portrait is executed in oil paint on canvas, a standard support for formal portraiture of the French school in the early eighteenth century. According to the Joconde record, the materials and techniques are documented but the descriptive fields for handling and condition are not detailed in the available catalogue entry. The painting measures 98 cm in height by 109 cm in width, a nearly square format suited to a half- or three-quarter-length seated composition.
Stylistically, the work is classified as a portrait genre piece, depicting the young infanta seated in a park setting with flowers, consistent with the conventions of courtly child portraiture practiced by Alexis Simon Belle at the French court. The canvas is held in the Museum of the History of France at the Palace of Versailles, and its inventory numbers (MV 3720; INV 9853; LP 4128) confirm its institutional custody, though no conservation report is provided in the sourced records.
History & Provenance
The portrait of Marie-Anne-Victoire, Infanta of Spain, was painted in 1723 by Alexis Simon Belle, as indicated by both the internal corpus entry and the Joconde database entry for the painting in the Musée national des châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon.
The work entered the collection of the Museum of the History of France at the Palace of Versailles, where it remains in the current holdings under inventory number MV 3720 (also listed as INV 9853 and LP 4128). Its provenance is documented within the palace’s collections, reflecting its institutional history rather than a private ownership chain.
The portrait of Marie-Anne-Victoire, Infanta of Spain, is held by the National Museum of the Castles of Versailles and Trianon, specifically within the Museum of the History of France at the Palace of Versailles. The work is cataloged under multiple inventory numbers, including MV 3720, INV 9853, and LP 4128. The painting was created in 1723 by Alexis Simon Belle and depicts the Infanta seated with flowers in a park setting.
While the source records confirm its current location and accession identifiers within the French national museum system, no specific exhibition history is detailed in the provided documentation.
Overview
This oil painting, created in 1723 by Alexis Simon Belle, is a portrait of Marie-Anne-Victoire, Infanta of Spain. It is part of the Palace of Versailles collection.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Alexis Simon Belle (12 January 1674 – 21 November 1734) was a French painter who specialised in portrait painting who is best known for his portraits of the French and Jacobite nobility.
Marie Leszczynska, Queen of France, and the Dauphin
Louis XV and the Infanta Marie-Anne-Victoire
Portrait of Louis XV of France
Portrait of a Lady
Princess Louisa Maria Teresa Stuart, 1692 - 1712. Daughter of James VII and II
Portrait of an Unknown Man (said to be Matthew Prior, 1664–1721)
Portrait of Antoine Crozat (Marquis du Chatel)
Louis, Dauphin of France (1729-1765) as a newborn
María Ana Victoria de Borbón
Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Blois, Duchess of Orleans
Marie-Anne de Bourbon, Princess of Conti (1666-1739)
Portrait of a Lady with a Child
Erzherzogin Maria Amalie (1724-1730) im Alter von drei Jahren
Maria Teresa of Bourbon Infanta of Spain (Future Dauphine of France)
Hedvig Sophia of Sweden (1681–1708), Swedish princess and a Duchess Consort of Holstein-Gottorp, Spouse Frederick IV, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp
Anne-Marie de Bourbon, future princess of Conti and Louis de Bourbon, count of Vermandois