Madame Bergeret de Frouville as Diana

Nattier's 1756 portrait of Madame Bergeret de Frouville dressed as Diana represents one of his most accomplished late works, executed when the fashion for mythological portraiture he had done so much to create was beginning to wane in favour of more naturalistic approaches. Madame Bergeret was the wife of Pierre-Jacques Onézyme Bergeret, a wealthy fermier-général and major arts patron who would later commission Fragonard's famous progress-of-love cycle. By presenting his subject as Diana, the virginal huntress, Nattier navigates the conventional tension between celebrating female beauty and preserving aristocratic dignity. The silver-blue of the hunting costume, the crescent moon in her hair, and the forest setting are handled with the experienced ease of an artist who had perfected this formula over decades.

The characteristic Nattier palette of silver-blue and pearl-white dominates, with the sitter's drapery blending into the cool overcast sky behind her. Flesh tones are smooth and luminous, built up from warm underlayers, while the crescent moon attribute and quiver receive precise, jewel-like attention.