Princess Maria Christina of Saxony (1735–1782)

Princess Maria Christina of Saxony, born 1735, was the daughter of Augustus III of Poland-Saxony and Maria Josepha of Austria, placing her at the intersection of the two greatest Catholic dynasties in Europe. La Tour's 1762 pastel, in the Musée Antoine-Lécuyer, depicts her at twenty-seven, in the same year as his portrait of Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony. The Wettin dynasty was among La Tour's most important royal clientele, and the artist produced images of several Saxon princes and princesses in this period. The Religious genre classification in the database may reflect the presence of devotional attributes in the composition, consistent with the deep Catholic piety of the Saxon royal family. The Musée Antoine-Lécuyer holds this portrait within its comprehensive representation of La Tour's royal and aristocratic commissions.

Pastel on paper, with La Tour's richly layered surface technique. Royal Saxon dress, potentially combined with devotional attributes, required careful compositional management to signal both dynastic rank and religious identity. La Tour's characteristic facial analysis is fully deployed in this late mature work.