Family portrait of the Duchess of Lyons and Chevreuse

Large pastel, depicting the Duchess of Luynes and Chevreuse and her children
 Monogrammed CC and dated 1877 on original canvas and original frame.
 Dimensions with frame: H: 268cm x W: 198cm
 Dimensions excluding frame: H: 215cm x L: 145cm
 Origin:
 -The Duchess of Luynes and Chevreuse (1849 – 1905)
 -Charles Marie Sosthènes, Duke of Luynes (1868 – 1924)
 -Through family transmission preserved in the Château de Dampierre in Yvelines, owned by the family since the 17th century, this work has not left the estate to this day.
 Note:
 This large pastel depicts Yolande de la Rochefoucauld, Duchess of Chevreuse and Luynes, accompanied by her son Honoré Charles Marie Sosthènes and her daughter Yolande, who would become the Duchess of Noailles.
 This work was created in 1877, a few years after the death of Charles d'Albert de Luynes, Duke of Chevreuse; her husband.
 The mother and children are surrounded by a heavy drape. The mother, dressed in a black gown delicately trimmed with lighter silk, sits in a high-backed red armchair, her right hand resting on her son Charles's shoulder in a gesture of maternal love and protection. Charles Marie Sosthènes, her son, has one hand on his mother's lap, while little Yolande holds a bouquet of roses and nestles at her mother's feet.
 The painter, through the position of the characters: mother, son, daughter, wanted to mark the lineage and rank in the family protocol of one of the greatest families of the French nobility.
 The exquisite details of the costumes create a sense of intimacy with the visitors. The gaze of the three figures still holds a touch of nostalgia, but also an intense human warmth, accentuated by their pale skin, which the artist has perfectly captured.