75 LOUIS CARMONTELLE (Carrogis) French, 1717­1806 The Duchess of Chaulnes as a Gardener in an Allee Watercolor and bodycolor over red and black chalk 31.7 x 19 cm(12½ x 7½ in.) Cat. Ill, no. 93; 94.GC.4l In 1758, Marie d'Albert de Luynes, the fourteen­year­old daughter of the due de Chevreuse and granddaughter of the duc de Luynes, married her cousin, Marie Joseph Louis d'Albert d'Ailly, the vidame d'Amiens, who later became duc de Picquigny and, in 1769, duc de Chaulnes. Her husband left for Egypt the day after their wedding and stayed there for several years. On his return he refused to see her and to consummate the marriage. Condemned to lifelong virginity, she dressed in white, as seen in this rendering. The vogue for gardening among women of noble rank gained in popularity with the ardent support of Queen Marie Antoinette, who followed the pastime at the Royal Palace of Versailles, most notably at the famous Hameau, her mock­Norman farm built in the palace garden. This is one of a series of some 750 portraits that Carmontelle drew of members of the court of the duc d'Orleans. At its numerous social events held at the Palais­Royal in Paris, Carmontelle entertained the guests by making portrait drawings on the spot in the technique of trois crayons (see no. 73), to which he subsequently added watercolor and bodycolor. The artist later bound them together into eleven albums, and the whole group forms an exhaustive record of court personages and court life before the French Revolution, with Mozart, Voltaire, and Franklin among the sitters. FRENCH SCHOOL 91