작품 상세

Circle of Sir Peter Lely (Dutch/British, 1618-1680), "Portrait of a Lady with a King Charles Spaniel, Probably Hortense Mancini, duchesse Mazarin", oil on canvas, 49-1/2" x 41-1/2". In an attractive floral-carved, gessoed and giltwood frame. Hortense Mancini was born in Rome into a politically and socially prominent family; her maternal uncle, Cardinal Mazarin, was the chief minister of France. She was one of five sisters renowned for their beauty and charm; together with several of their Martinozzi cousins the women were collectively referred to at the Court of Louis XIV as the "Mazarinettas". The first marriage proposal received by Hortense was from Charles II of England. It was rejected by her uncle who feared that the young king in exile had little chance of re-gaining the throne; by the time the Cardinal realized his mistake and wished to reconsider the offer, Charles II, insulted, refused. At the age of fifteen, Hortense was wed to Armand-Charles de la Porte, the duc de La Meilleraye and one of the wealthiest men in Europe. The marriage was not a success, though it produced four children. Deserting her husband and her young children, Hortense sought the protection of King Louis XIV and eventually fled to England with the aid of the English Ambassador to France who hoped the young, beautiful, and at the moment desperate, woman would insinuate herself into the court and bed of the English king. Fifteen years after her proposal from Charles II, Hortense was firmly established as his favored mistress. Her outrageous and promiscuous behavior, however, did not endear her with the English Court; she was infamously referred to as the "Italian Whore". Eventually even the king could no longer ignore her antics, which possibly included a relationship with his illegitimate daughter, and he distanced himself from her. He was to continue to support her financially until his death. Reference: Alison Conway, The Protestant Whore 2010, University of Toronto Press, Toronto.