At the age of 15, Nattier was already an awardwinning artist who received many private commissions. In 1718, after portraying Catherine the Great (1729-1796), Empress of Russia, he turned down her invitation to stay in her country as a member of the St. Petersburg court. He was then accepted as a painter of historic themes at the Académie Royale de Paris. Nattier was one of the greatest portrait artists of his generation, characterized by decorative exaggeration and the renewal of the image of the woman, in light of her growing importance in 18th-century French intellectual and cultural life. His portraits reiterate the power of the nobility over the plebeians through symbolism and the ostentation of wealth, evidenced by fabrics such as colorful satin and velvet, which were very expensive and worn to demarcate social roles. MASP’s paintings bring together four of the daughters of King Louis XV. Each one of them is associated to one of the four elements, identified by the attributes of the globe, the stove, the peacock and the amphora. The eldest, Louise-Elisabeth, is associated with the earth; Anne-Henriette, with fire; Marie-Adélaïde, with air; Marie-Louise-Thérèse-Victoire, with water. The works decorated a room at the Palace of Versailles, the residence of the French court at that time.
— MASP Curatorial Team, 2017
