Who is this French Beauty?

I posted this image when I first started blogging. I would like to know who this woman is....I am re-posting this post in hopes that someone will know and tell me? The guessing game challenge! ("I wonder if there is a prize!" asked Mademoiselle Chickadee?) Be sure to check the old post if you need other clues, she also has a beau!

Comments

[Lauren]

If this is really a question and not just a "museing" on who she is, my guess is that she is Marie Antoinette? Am I right?

lauren

[Alison]

Who knows? But isn't she divine?

[Account Deleted]

This is not the hairstyle of her period, this must be past-revolution, even early 19th century. It's rather romantic, from what the clip hints to. There is no jewelery visible, either, no hat or veil or additional "decoration". My guess is that the whole portrait may not even show a royal.
May we see more of it?

[annie]

My first thought is Marie Antoinette.

[MARYBETH]

How amazing! My immediate gut response was also ‘MA’; however, I do not think you make it quite so easy.
She could be ‘The girl with a Pearl Earring as we cannot see her other ear. Hmmmm…..
Wait! You said she has a BEAU! Could it be Juliet? I am thinking she looks older then 14. I do not know much about Ann Bolyn (sp), but she comes to mind too.
This is Fun! I am off to read your original post with more hints
(((hugs))
mb

[Britt-Arnhild]

Oh, I love questions like this :-) With my early morning coffee I have now looked through the huge and heavy The Story of Painting by Sister Wendy Beckett, but nothing to find there. Then I copied the photo and has sent the question out to two of my yahoo groups - Armchairtravelling and Womenwritersthroughtheages....Will let you know if I find out something.

[cruststation]

This is a beautiful painting, lets do some detective work what fun? I guess there isn't a signature on the painting then.

[MARYBETH]

O.K. DEFINATELY NOT MARIE ANTOINETTE!

=)
mb

[louise]

I don't know who she is but I am now very curious to know as well!

Cheers, LJ

[herhimnbryn]

Madame de Pompadour?

[Britt-Arnhild]

You are really occupying my day today Corey, I am searching for your French beaty.
I am reading Nancy Mitford's Madame de Pompadour right now (preparations for next summer in France). I have googled MdP images, and though your beauty looks very much alike her, I have not been able to find this exact painting.
I am following this search with great interest :-)

[tongue in cheek]

I do not know who she is. I saw this exact image (click on link to see the full original.) on a bookcover once....I have searched the internet, yet to no avail...the portrait is paired with a beautiful young man as well....

[Shannon]

Game on!!

[Jeanne]

I am not sure who she is but she is lovely.
Blessings!
Here's to all the beautiful women in our lives!
Love Jeanne

[Susan]

At first glance, this looks like a Francois Boucher painting and if you google him, you'll see he did a lot of Madame De Pompadour portraits (she was his patron), however, here is a portrait done by Jean-Marc Nattier, also of Madame De Pompadour which appears to be the same woman in your painting only a few years older (gray hair). If it isn't her, the resemblence is stunning. If the link doesn't come through right, do a Google image search for "Jean-Marc Nattier Madame Pompadour".

http://www.er.uqam.ca/nobel/r14310/Sulte/Images/RenaudDaveneDesMeloizes/Angelique/Diane/NattierJean-Marc/Pompadour/g.jpg

[pinar]

was this your book cover.. I looked at a lot of them.. but this.. looks like her..
Mme de Pompadour ??

http://www.ambafrance-us.org/culture/books/pix/mitfordpompadour180.jpg

[pinar]

and have another look to this link please
http://www.geocities.com/ther_over/pompadour-1759-tn.jpg

[Ulla]

An alter-image, you were ment to find it, some mysteries are difficult to solve because the answer is right in front of you...

[isabel]

if you take the portrait to an art museum or a to dealer in antique French art, surely someone in the business, with expertise, would know. then also, i guess you could find out if this is an original, or a copy. can you tell if it's a print, or is it an actual painting? about her 'beau', do you mean there is a companion portrait to this one? if so, discovering his identity would also be a helpful clue.

[Francabollo]

Paris Hilton?

[Colette]

Pomadour was not this pretty, and Marie-Antoinette was not French.

I'll be back....I hope.

[susanna]

Hmmm...a mystery woman...I was going to say that she was a courtesan but then perhaps she was a young wife to a famous politician? The plot thickens after seeing her on a book cover!

[Jenny]

I love a mystery! I am wondering if the book was fiction or non-fiction? If it was fiction could it be the beloved Mercedes of Edmund Dante of the Count of Monte Cristo? Her hair looks to be long and free like she would have worn...and she was young and very beautiful.

[Sandy]

She's lovely. I hope you find out who she is. My mother has a print I am curious about too. It is of an older girl & a toddler in a big round frame that she has owned FOREVER. When I was little I thought it was my grandmother & my mother. I'll have to take a pic one day & put it on my site. I have also seen copies of it a few times but never forget to ask who did the painting.

[ParisBreakfasts]

Madame de la Poop-a-door?

[ParisBreakfasts]

Oh dear..how do I retract my previous answer..She is wearing a quite auspicious red taffata sash..could she be of Scottish descent? A scottish lassie or is that the doggie..?

[ParisBreakfasts]

*&^%$# no way to post anonymously is there here..?
A Scottish Lassie? Hmmm..around the eyes particularly the resemblance is remarkable...
http://www.findaproperty.com/library/libp3079.jpg

[Lilly]

It's a beautiful painting. The lips and eyes remind me of portraits by Fragonard...

[la vie en rose]

hmmmm...don't know...

[wendy]

She looks a lot like a painting I saw of Elizabeth La Bas (French Revolutioanry wife, a very interesting person). Something about the shape of the face, the softness, the tone, reminds me of her. But this is just my guess...

[krissie]

I saw this Q posted on Britts blog and since last night its been on my mind, and driving me a little mad....I think it may be laura secord, another beauty I have a pic of on a chocolate box.
Please, please tell us soon who this is???

[Shannon]

I haven't given up! Still researching.....

[Lilly]

I've been image googling Madame Pompadour trying to find a young portrait of the lady. I agree with Susan's comment that she looks very much like Francois Boucher's Madame Pompadour portraits but at a younger age. Could you repost the painting of her bewigged partner as another clue to finding out who she is?

[Paintgranny]

oh, I hope you find her...is there some link between the civil war and the French revolution I wonder? This is why she had her protrait painted...she is never dead, but is alive in a way she would never have imagined!

[Connie]

She is a beauty. I did some looking and found nothing. Maybe she is just someone we all feel in our hearts.

Take care,
Connie

[isabel]

several features appear to be very similar to portraits of Mme. de Pompadour:

the shape of the eyes
the shape of the eyebrows
the shape of the face
a small cleft in the chin
a slight widow's peak

i would really like to see a photo of the companion portrait. the style of his wig would give clues as to the time the portraits were painted.

[orama]

Oh darling, you must not be so naive. The painting is a fine portrait of great great great grandmother Orama. A naturally large boobed lady fron the 19th century.

[tongue in cheek]

dear Orama...You made me laugh and laugh, and it is just what I needed!!
ps
I would like to know who she is...Madame reveal yourself!

[swampgrrl]

she looks so familiar...
you've got an awful lot
of people guessing after this
woman!
are you going to post who she is?

[Jen]

Anne of Austria (and Louis XIII)?

[mary ann]

i was going to say she looked something of the rococco period? haven't a clue really...

[Laurie Quarnstrom]

She looks similar to other English portraits from the late 1600's.

[Elisabeth C]

I believe she looks like Josephine....married to Napoleon Bonaparte. ??!!