ticketsMember | Make a donation

Madame Marsollier and Her Daughter

1749
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 630
The public performance of applying makeup and finishing dressing before friends and associates was a common feature of elite sociability in eighteenth-century Europe. In this portrait, exhibited at the Salon of 1750, Madame Marsollier initiates her daughter into the ritual through which beauty, etiquette, and consumer power (note the luxurious fabrics and gilded toilette set) were put on display. Madame Marsollier had married a wealthy textile merchant whom she considered beneath her station. By employing the French royal family’s favorite portraitist, the Marsolliers aspired to aristocracy and, indeed, their daughter became the marquise de Chamilly.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Madame Marsollier and Her Daughter
  • Artist: Jean Marc Nattier (French, Paris 1685–1766 Paris)
  • Date: 1749
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 57 1/2 x 45 in. (146.1 x 114.3 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Florence S. Schuette, 1945
  • Object Number: 45.172
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Half-Length Portrait of a Young Man, Jean Marc Nattier French, Black and red chalk
Half-Length Portrait of a Young Man
Jean Marc Nattier
18th century
Self-Portrait, Jean Marc Nattier French, Black chalk, heightened with white (recto); white chalk (verso)
Self-Portrait
Jean Marc Nattier
ca. 1730
Portrait of a Woman, Jean Marc Nattier French, Oil on canvas
Portrait of a Woman
Jean Marc Nattier
1753
The Spring (La Source), Jean Marc Nattier French, Oil on canvas
The Spring (La Source)
Jean Marc Nattier
1738
Madame Bergeret de Frouville as Diana, Jean Marc Nattier French, Oil on canvas
Madame Bergeret de Frouville as Diana
Jean Marc Nattier
1756

Related Content

Publications

Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.

Showing 4 of 5

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.