watercolor on ivory, 11.5 x 8.5 cm

PROVENANCE

until the late 1940s: the historical collection of Ervin Weiss (1884-1966) and Branka Weiss (1902-1975); 1947: The Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of Croatia declares the Weiss collection a private collection of public importance; after 1949: the collection was inventoried by the communist regime, followed by confiscation; 1955: it comes under the care of the Modern Gallery, where it is kept for the next 70 years; after 2021: the collection transitions into the ownership of the Weiss family's heirs, after nearly 30 years of legal proceedings for restitution.

The composition of this portrait of the French King Louis XV (1710 – 1774) is taken from the youthful portraits of the king from the oeuvre of Jean-Baptiste van Loo (1684 – 1745) and his circle. Dressed in a shining armor with a blue ribbon, Louis XV subtly demonstrates the symbols of his reign and status – a court sword hangs around his waist, he leans on a ruler's staff with a 'fleur-de-lis' motif, and drapery with the identical symbol of the French state rests on the table next to him. Although compositionally connected with van Loo, the inscription on the back of the portrait attributes this work to Charles Boit (1662 – 1727), a Swedish painter and enameller of a colourful biography who worked in England, Austria and France. Even during Boit's lifetime, his portraits of aristocratic figures, executed in enamel technique, achieved exceptionally high prices, so he immortalized rulers such as Queen Anne and Prince George, Emperor Leopold and his family, William III, and Louis XV. During the 18th century, two of Boit's portraits of Louis XV in enamel technique were recorded, but there is no mention of a portrait executed on ivory. MM

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