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Miniature Portrait of César François Cassini de Thury

Description: Nattier was regarded as one of the foremost portrait painters at the court of Louis XV (reigned 1715-1774). He occasionally turned to miniature painting, as demonstrated by this likeness of Cassini de Thury (1714-1784), a distinguished astronomer and director of the Paris Observatory, shown seated at his desk taking a pinch of snuff from a gold box.

Artist: Jean-Marc Nattier (French, 1685-1766)
Created: ca. 1750
Medium: watercolor on ivory
Dimensions: 3 1/8 x 2 11/16 in. (8 x 6.9 cm)

Inscriptions & Markings: [Signature] At left: J.M. Nattier

Country: France

Provenance: Marqui de Biron; William T. Walters, Baltimore, ca. 1893, by purchase [no. 511 in Walters Catalogue of 1899]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894, by inheritance; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Line: Acquired by William T. Walters, ca. 1893
Accession No. 38.101