François Boucher
François Boucher was a French Rococo painter known for graceful mythological scenes, idealized pastoral settings, and lighthearted decorative commissions.
Painter
Jean-Marc Nattier
Jean-Marc Nattier was a French Rococo portrait painter known for elegant aristocratic sitters, mythological costumes, and luminous oil-painted fabrics.
Jean-Marc Nattier quick facts
Nattier’s portraits placed aristocratic sitters in contemporary dress or mythological roles, recording the fashions and social codes of the French court.
| Full name | Jean-Marc Nattier |
|---|---|
| Born | 1685 · Paris, France |
| Died | 1766 · Paris, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Movements | Rococo |
| Paint types | Oil Paint |
| Other media | — |
| Other materials | — |
| Painting surfaces | Canvas |
| Painting methods | Works from live sitters, then smoothly models faces and finishes delicate color transitions and finely observed fabric details in oil |
| Common subjects | French royal and aristocratic women, Diana and other mythological identities, luxurious fabrics, fashionable makeup, and family portraiture |
| Notable works | Madame Bergeret de Frouville as Diana · Madame Marsollier and Her Daughter · The Spring (La Source) · Portrait of a Woman |
Sources: The Met: Madame Bergeret de Frouville as Diana, oil on canvas, The Met: Madame Marsollier and Her Daughter, oil on canvas, The Met: The Spring (La Source), oil on canvas, The Met: Portrait of a Woman, oil on canvas.
Paint types used by Jean-Marc Nattier
Nattier’s court portraits use oil on canvas to combine individualized faces with carefully rendered dress and mythological or seasonal identities.
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Oil paint
Nattier painted aristocratic portraits in oil, including the Met’s Madame Bergeret de Frouville as Diana and Madame Marsollier and Her Daughter. He used polished modeling, elaborate dress, and mythological attributes to present sitters both as individuals and in idealized roles. These collection records anchor oil as his documented painting medium.
Sources: The Met: Madame Bergeret de Frouville as Diana; The Met: Madame Marsollier and Her Daughter; The Met: The Spring.
Painting surfaces used by Jean-Marc Nattier
Portrait records document Jean-Marc Nattier's work on canvas, with examples below showing the support used for court portraits in museum collections.
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Canvas
The Met catalogs Nattier’s portraits Madame Bergeret de Frouville as Diana, Madame Marsollier and Her Daughter, and The Spring as oil paintings on canvas. The flexible support carries the carefully posed figures, textiles, and allegorical details central to his court portrait practice.
Sources: The Met: Madame Bergeret de Frouville as Diana, oil on canvas, The Met: Madame Marsollier and Her Daughter, oil on canvas, The Met: The Spring (La Source), oil on canvas, The Met: Portrait of a Woman, oil on canvas.
Painters similar to Jean-Marc Nattier
Boucher shared Nattier’s interest in fashionable patrons and mythological dress; Watteau offers an earlier Rococo comparison through social scenes.
Antoine Watteau
Antoine Watteau was a French painter whose elegant garden gatherings, theater figures, and tender fêtes galantes helped establish the Rococo style.