The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of November 8, 2025

Portrait of a Woman as Diana

1752

Jean-Marc Nattier

(French, 1685–1766)
France, 18th century
oil on canvas
Framed: 127.5 x 107.5 x 10 cm (50 3/16 x 42 5/16 x 3 15/16 in.); Unframed: 100.4 x 79.5 cm (39 1/2 x 31 5/16 in.)
Bequest of John L. Severance 1942.643
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The sitter was once thought to be King Louis XV’s daughter Henriette or his mistress Madame de Pompadour. Today, her identity is unknown.

Description

For many years, this sitter was identified as Madame de Pompadour, but she bears little resemblance to this pivotal figure in French art and politics of the mid 1700s. Nattier specialized in portraits of women in mythological guises—in this case, the bow, quiver, and leopard skin, all attributes of Diana, goddess of the hunt.
  • Before 1860
    Comte de Pimodan (probably Georges Pimodan [1822-1860]), Paris
    Possibly until 19130
    Madame Dhainaut
    By 1930
    (Wildenstein & Co., New York, NY, sold to John L. Severance)
    1930-1936
    John L. Severance [1863-1936], Cleveland, OH, upon his death, held in trust by the estate
    1936-1942
    Estate of John L. Severance, bequeathed to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1942-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio Bequest of John L. Severance
  • Salmon, Xavier. Jean Marc Nattier: 1685-1766. Paris: Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1999.
    Joseph Baillio, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Feb. 18. 2014, in CMA curatorial file.
    Renard, Philippe, and Jean-Marc Nattier. Jean-Marc Nattier (1685-1766): un artiste parisien à la cour de Louis XV. Saint-Rémy-en-l'Eau: Monelle Hayot, 1999.

    Salmon, Xavier. Jean Marc Nattier: 1685-1766. Paris: Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1999.

    Joseph Baillio, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Feb. 18. 2014, in CMA curatorial file.
    Salmon, Xavier. Jean Marc Nattier: 1685-1766. Paris: Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1999.
    Joseph Baillio, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Feb. 18, 2014, in CMA curatorial file.
    Salmon, Xavier. Jean Marc Nattier: 1685-1766. Paris: Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1999.
    Catalogue of the John L. Severance Collection: Bequest of John L. Severance, 1936. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1942. Reproduced: p. [20], Plate VIII, cat. no. 11; Mention: p. 22, cat. no. 11 archive.org
    Francis, Henry. "Department of Paintings." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 29, no. 9 (November 1942): 132-136 Reproduced: p. 130; Mentioned: p. 135 www.jstor.org
    Paintings in the Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1945. Reproduced: p. 30 archive.org
    Francis, Henry S. “Two Portraits by Aved and Gros.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 51, no. 8 (October 1964): 196–205. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 198, fig. 2 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 136 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 136 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 179 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. Mentioned: p. 102; Reproduced: p. 103
    Landau, Ellen G. “‘A Fairytale Circumstance’ the Influence of Stage Design on the Work of François Boucher.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 70, no. 9 (November 1983): 360–78. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 361-362, fig. 2 www.jstor.org
    Saisselin, Rémy G. The Enlightenment against the Baroque: Economics and Aesthetics in the Eighteenth Century. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992. Reproduced: Book Jacket
  • Jean Marc Nattier (1685-1766). Musée National du Château de Versailles et de Trianon, France (October 25, 1999-January 30, 2000).
    Versailles, France: Musée National du Château de Versailles et de Trianon (10/25/99 - 1/30/00) "Jean Marc Nattier (1685-1766)" exh. cat. no. 69, pp 244-246.
    France in the 18th Century. Royal Academy of Arts, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (January 5-March 3, 1968).
    Royal Academy of Arts, London, January 5 to March 3, 1968, "France in the 18th Century." cat. no. 498.
    Style, Truth and the Portrait. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 1-November 19, 1963).
    CMA, Oct. 1-Nov 10, 1963: "Style, Truth, and the Portrait", cat. no. 54, repr..
    New York, Wildenstein &Co., Nov. 7-Dec. 15, 1951: "Jubillee Exhibition", (Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Firm's Establishment in N.Y.City.).
    Exhibition of the John L. Severance Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (November 12, 1942-March 14, 1943).
    C.M.A, 1942: "Exhibition of the John L Severance Collection", cat. no. 11, pl. VIII.
    C.M.A., 1936: "20th Anniversary Exhibition," cat. no. 62.
    Art of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 9-December 2, 1934).
    C.M.A, 1934: "Art of the XVII and XVIIIth centuries".
  • {{cite web|title=Portrait of a Woman as Diana|url=false|author=Jean-Marc Nattier|year=1752|access-date=08 November 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1942.643