In the late 1730s the Parisian artist Marie-Anne Loir (1705-1783) painted a series of oil portraits of members of the princely family of Monaco that represent her earliest known original works. Four belong to the collections du Palais princier in Monaco and one to the “Musée d’art et d’histoire” of Saint-Lô in Normandy. Three are of Prince Honoré III and two are of his brother, Marie-Charles-Auguste Grimaldi, comte de Matignon; all but one portray the brothers playing musical instruments.
Thanks to a discovery of a fresh series of letters in the Archives of the Palais princier in Monaco dating from 1737 to 1741 between mademoiselle Loir and her client Jacques de Matignon, duc de Valentinois, and his intendants, Julie Anne Sadie Goode offers in the present article valuable new perspectives on the early career of this under-appreciated XVIII^th century artist, the lives of her subjects, and the artistic, musical and literary milieux that inspired the portraits. In addition, Dr. Sadie Goode draws attention to several other, closely-related portraits also attributed to Loir.

Text in French