Portret van Françoise Madeleine d'Orléans c. 1829

Tony Johannot captured Françoise Madeleine d'Orléans in this print. Pearls adorn her hair and neck, symbols of purity, wealth, and status frequently associated with aristocratic women in European portraiture. Consider the pearl: from ancient Rome, where they signified prestige, to Renaissance paintings where they represented marital fidelity, pearls have crossed centuries. Botticelli’s Venus emerges from a giant scallop shell, a single pearl highlighting her divine beauty, while in portraits of Queen Elizabeth I, pearls were used extensively to emphasize her power and virginity. In the same way, the pearls in this portrait are more than mere adornment; they speak to her position and the virtues expected of her. Symbols resurface, transformed yet recognizable. This portrait, with its conscious use of established motifs, reminds us that images carry their history within them. The emotional resonance of this image is not only in Françoise Madeleine’s gaze but also in the echo of countless images that came before it.