CONSTANTIJN NETSCHER | A portrait of Maria Mancini (1639-1715), three-quarter length, wearing a gold embroidered dress and ermine cloak, seated before a curtain and a classical landscape

Walter Langer (1899-1981), USA;

His sale, New York, Sotheby's, 6 October 1995, lot 30 (as Circle of Netscher);

Private collection, USA.

Born in The Hague on 16 December 1668, Constantijn Netscher was the son and pupil of the well-known portrait painter, Caspar Netscher. Much like his father, Constantijn was patronised by some of the principal personages of his time. The sitter depicted here, Maria Mancini, was one of the five nieces of Cardinal Mazarin, whom he brought to the France to marry advantageously. The Mancini sisters were famous for their beauty and became known at the court of King Louis XIV as the Mazarinettes. Maria Mancini was the first love of King Louis XIV, but in 1661 was sent away to marry an Italian prince, Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna.