Louise-Henriette de Bourbon-Conti (1726–1759), as a River Goddess

Louise-Henriette de Bourbon-Conti, depicted as a river goddess in Nattier's 1738 canvas at Waddesdon Manor, was a princess of the Conti branch of the Condé family — one of the most prestigious branches of the French royal house outside the direct line. Depicting her as a river goddess was a variant of Nattier's mythological portrait formula: instead of an Olympian deity, the river goddess allowed a pastoral, watery setting with flowing drapery, an urn pouring water, and a setting of reeds and reflections. Waddesdon Manor, the Rothschild house in Buckinghamshire now held by the National Trust, assembled one of the finest collections of French eighteenth-century decorative art and painting in Britain, and this Nattier fits perfectly within that holding.

The river goddess setting gave Nattier a specific technical programme: aquatic blues and greens in the background, reeds and flowing water, and the dampness of the setting reflected in the sitter's drapery. He typically renders water and reflection with loose, horizontal brushwork that contrasts with the more controlled handling of the figure.