1778
The Sentiments of the Nation
Jean François JaninetFrench, 1752 - 1814
Jean-François Janinet's tender family portrait commemorates the eagerly anticipated birth of Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI's first child, Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte (1778-1851). Here we see the queen holding the infant girl between an oval portrait of her mother, the Empress Maria Theresa, and a marble bust of her husband. At the left of this heart-shaped composition, a white spaniel and an anchor are symbols of fidelity and hope; at right, an altar symbolizes love. When reissued three years later in celebration of the birth of a male heir, Louis-Joseph-Xavier, the only alteration to the plate was the addition of the Dauphin's birth date, October 22, 1781, to the engraved text below.
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