Portrait of the youthful Marie Antoinette by Joseph-Siffred Duplessis – €135,000 (£114,405) at Aguttes.
It was painted by Joseph-Siffred Duplessis (1725-1802) – an artist who depicted French kings and nobility – and his studio.
The oval oil on canvas measuring 2ft 9in x 22in (74 x 56.5 cm) depicts the future wife of Louis XVI aged 16.
A sketch of this subject is held by the Château de Versailles but this finished portrait surfaced only when it was shown by the vendors to Grégoire Lacroix, Aguttes’ director of Old Masters, who immediately recognised it as Marie Antoinette.
At the auction on November 25 it was contested by four phone bidders to €135,000 (£114,405) a multiple of the estimate, at which point it was secured by right of pre-emption by the Château de Versailles; thus uniting it with the sketch for the portrait.
