ジャン＝マルク・ナティエ

Jean-Marc Nattier dominated the portrait world of Louis XV's court with a distinctive art that made aristocratic beauty both flattering and credible. Born in Paris to a family of painters, he trained under his father Marc Nattier and his uncle Jean Jouvenet, enrolling in the Academy in 1703. Early success came through engravings of Rubens's works, but the financial crisis of 1720 forced him to turn fully to portraiture. He became famous for reviving the allegorical portrait: depicting court ladies as classical goddesses and mythological figures while preserving their recognizable likenesses.