French School, Circle of NICOLÁS DE LARGILLIERE (France, 1656 - 1746). "Portrait of a Lady, 1720. Oil on canvas. Re-drawn. It presents restorations. Measurements: 74,5 x 66,5 cm; 98 x 86 cm (frame). Portrait on indeterminate background of an elegant lady of high class, as it can be supposed by the low neckline dress, decorated with bows and fine lace, as well as by the earrings and the necklace with several strings of pearls, or by the comb that highlights her up-do. The lady s gaze is firmly fixed on the viewer, which adds character to the work and tells the viewer something about the psychological aspect of the lady.The quality of the master responsible for the painting is also clear: firstly, in the economy of means, which keeps the viewer s attention focused on the lady (something to which the neutral background of the painting and the tonal interplay between the dress and the lady s pale skin also contribute); secondly, in the quality of the drawing used, especially on the face (drawing that predominates over colour and brushstroke, as was usual in 19th-century art derived from the Neoclassicism of the Academies of Fine Arts). These works must have been executed by a painter belonging to the circle of the master Nicolas de Largilliere, one of the most important French portraitists of the period. In both works we can recognise various stylistic traits similar to those of the artist and his circle, such as the careful detail of the hairstyle and its beadwork, as well as in the drawings of the fabrics, the hair and the lace of the clothing. Largillière painted mainly portraits, although he also produced occasional historical, religious, landscapes and still lifes, subjects he worked on with the same technical mastery as his portraits. One of the greatest painters of the Regency and the reign of Louis XV, Largillière is represented in the Louvre, the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery in London, the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Art Institute of Chicago, among other leading art galleries around the world.