So-called portrait of Louise Élisabeth of France (1727-1759)

The so-called portrait of Louise Élisabeth of France belongs to the same group of French royal likenesses Liotard made around 1750, during or shortly after his time at the Viennese court. Louise Élisabeth was the eldest daughter of Louis XV and briefly Queen of Spain as wife of the Infante Philip before being widowed. The 'so-called' qualifier in the title indicates scholarly uncertainty about the identification, which relies on comparison with other known portraits rather than documentary confirmation. The work is now in the Palazzina di caccia of Stupinigi, a Savoy hunting lodge near Turin that housed important decorative art collections, reflecting how French royal portraiture circulated through the dynastic networks of eighteenth-century Europe. Liotard's pastel technique gave royal portraits an informality that oil could not easily achieve, making them suitable for intimate apartments rather than grand state galleries.

Pastel on paper, with the soft surface lending the portrait the informality appropriate to a private rather than ceremonial likeness. Flesh tones are delicately built up with characteristic Liotard precision, while the dress is handled in broader, less defined strokes that emphasise the sitter's face.