Equestrian portrait of the Dauphin (1661–1711) accompanied by his wife, Marie-Anne of Bavaria, and the Princess Palatine, by Jean-Baptiste Martin, known as ‘Martin des Batailles’

This painting was formerly attributed to van der Meulen under the title * The Prince of Condé’s Hunt in the Forest of Fontainebleau*. David Brouzet’s study (2007) leads to the conclusion that this is a previously unpublished equestrian portrait of the Grand Dauphin (1661–1711) accompanied by his wife, Marie-Anne of Bavaria, and the Princess Palatine, by Jean-Baptiste Martin, known as ‘Martin des Batailles’ (1659–1735). This private portrait is believed to be one of the rare depictions of the passion that Louis XIV’s son had for hunting.

The painting depicts several male and female riders chasing a stag through a landscape of picturesque cliffs. The Dauphin, riding a white horse in the royal hunting livery, has set off in pursuit of a young stag. Based on a comparison with engravings by Nicolas Bazin after Jean-Baptiste Martin, the female figures accompanying him are thought to be: at his side, almost in the centre of the painting, the Palatine Princess (1652–1722); behind him, his own wife, the Dauphine Marie-Anne of Bavaria (1660–1690), followed, in all likelihood, by the Princess of Conti (1666–1739), the legitimised daughter of Louis XIV and Mademoiselle de La Vallière, who is also wearing the colours of the royal hunting party.

It was quite common to commission Jean-Baptiste Martin to immortalise a hunt. The painter Pierre-Denis Martin (1673–1742), his namesake, had produced less formal hunting scenes for Louis XIV, set on the outskirts of the Marly park. Other members of the royal family seem to have shared with the heir to the throne not only his taste for hunting, but also his appreciation for the depictions of such scenes produced by the two Martins.

David Brouzet, ‘Two previously unpublished portraits of the Grand Dauphin by Jean-Baptiste Martin’, Versalia. Journal of the Society of Friends of Versailles, no. 10, 2007. pp. 20–25.