Marie-Thérèse of Savoy, Countess of Artois (1756-1805)

The portrait of Marie-Thérèse of Savoy, Countess of Artois, was created in 1775 by Jean-Baptiste André Gautier-Dagoty in oil on canvas. The work is documented under the inventory number MV 7853 and is held at the Musée national des châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, specifically within the Museum of the History of France at the Palace of Versailles.

The sources do not provide information about the original commissioner of the portrait, nor do they detail the successive ownership chain prior to its entry into the French national collections. No intermediate provenance, acquisition date, or transfer history is recorded in the available documentation.

The painting is held in the collection of the Museum of the History of France at the Palace of Versailles, where it is identified by the inventory number MV 7853. It is catalogued in the French national museum database Joconde under reference 000PE009067. No specific exhibition history is provided in the available sources.

Jean-Baptiste André Gautier‑Dagoty’s 1775 oil portrait presents Marie‑Thérèse of Savoy, Countess of Artois, seated amid an opulent interior. She is rendered in a richly detailed blue gown trimmed with lace, holding a small flower and a guitar while gazing toward a secondary portrait. The composition includes a draped fabric backdrop, a vase of blossoms, and a sculptural element, all contributing to a scene of cultivated elegance.

The portrait aligns with the broader trend of aristocratic commissions that celebrated personal taste and social rank. In the 1770s, French portraiture often incorporated musical motifs and floral symbolism to denote refinement, situating this painting within the aesthetic conventions of pre‑revolutionary high society.