(Troyes 1612–1695 Paris)
The Comte de Toulouse, son of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan, as the sleeping Cupid,
oil on canvas, 94.7 x 128.4 cm, framed

Provenance:
European private collection.

This painting is a marginally altered version of a painting by Mignard at the Palace of Versailles dated 1682. Prof Boyer has discovered that this painting has been cut down slightly on the left hand edge in comparison with the Versailles picture, and the green ribbon is depicted in a different manner. This would indicate that this painting was executed in the workshop of Mignard, before the artist undertook the alterations to the original.

Louis Alexandre de Bourbon (1678–1737) was born at the Château de Clagny in Versailles, being the third and youngest son of Louis XIV from his extra-marital liaison with Madame de Montespan.
In 1681 Louis Alexandre was made the Comte de Toulouse – in the year in which he was legitimised. He would go on to be appointed Admiral of the Fleet at the age of five.
In February 1684 he was made a colonel of an infantery regiment named after him. On 3rd January 1696 he became Marshal of France and, in the following year, he was appointed Commander of the Royal Army.
Although his father legitimised him and his three surviving siblings and had intended that two of his sons from his liaison with Madame de Montespan should be considered as potential heirs to the French throne, this was abrogated immediately on the death of Louis XIV by the parliament in Paris.

We are grateful to Prof Charles Boyer for his assistance with the cataloguing of this painting.