"Attributed to Alexis Simon Belle (1674-173) - Louise Hippolyte Grimaldi, Alexis Simon Belle (Paris; 1674-1734) Portrait of Louise Hippolyte Grimaldi, princess of Monaco around 1715.

Re-lined canvas of 97 cm by 74.5 cm Old frame of 113 cm by 91 cm

This sumptuous painting attributed to Alexis Simon Belle offers us the portrait presumed to be Louise Hippolite Grimaldi, Princess of Monaco and Duchess of Valentinois with her page around a fountain around 1715. The Louvre has a portrait of the princess also accompanied by a page, executed by another artist (various attributions), around 1715 too. (https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010238274) We find in our work a double artistic influence, that of Mignard and that of François de Troy as in many paintings by Alexis Simon Belle but also his touch regarding the rendering of fabrics and the use of this type of blue , stunning.

Louise Hippolyte Grimaldi (1674-1724)

Princess of Monaco, she is the only sovereign, to date, in the history of the principality. At the beginning of the 18th century, Monaco found itself without male descendants. In the history of the principality, this situation already occurred in the middle of the 15th century with Jean I Grimaldi who only had one daughter. He therefore decided to modify the rules of succession, namely from 1454 it would be possible to have a princess at the head of the principality. However, one condition is set, she must have married a Grimaldi. However, at the beginning of the 18th century, there was no Grimaldi “available” for this marriage. Things are getting complicated but there is still a possibility. A young man from a good family who has been accepted can agree to renounce his titles to become a Grimaldi. Things are still well done... Of course this young man will have to find an interest in it to agree to break with the centuries-old history of his people. It turns out that at this moment in history, the Matignon family, a Norman family of Breton origin, somehow came up against the last step of the aristocratic podium and failed to become dukes and peers of France. The Grimaldis have been there since the Treaty of Péronne, Louis XIII having granted the duchy of Valentinois to Honoré II and his descendants. Everyone is interested in it, the marriage contract is ready, it must be signed by Louis XIV, protector of the principality. Now we are in 1715, the king is very ill, he dies on September 1st before being able to sign it! Definitely a very complicated affair! Regardless, the Court meets urgently on September 5 and signs the contract, Jacques de Matignon becomes Jacques I His new wife quickly makes him understand who the sovereign is, she enters Monaco alone. Unfortunately for the princess, she died in 1724, killed by smallpox which wreaked havoc in the principality that year.

Alexis Simon Belle (Paris; 1674-1734)

He was a student of François de Troy and devoted himself to portraiture. Employed by the small court of the pretender Jacques Stuart in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, he was received at the Academy in 1703 (portrait of François de Troy, Versailles). He painted portraits of many great people from the courts of France and Poland (Marie Leszczinska and her son, Versailles; Mlle de Béthisy and her brother, id.). He paints in a style which still recalls that of Mignard (which is still the case with our portrait). However, Belle's style mainly follows that of her masters: François de Troy, Hyacinthe Rigaud, and Nicolas de Largillierre. As for him, he was the master of Jacques-André-Joseph-Camelot Aved (1702-1766). At the time of his death in 1734, Belle was cited as "painter to the king in his Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, advisor to the king, general controller of clergy income, controller of poultry at the Paris city hall", thus demonstrating certain relationships with power. Belle's son, Louis-Clément became a history painter. When he died in 1806, he is cited as "rector of the special school of painting, sculpture, architecture and engraving, and professor of drawing at the Manufacture Impériale des Gobelins"