Lot 17. Jakob Ferdinand Voet (Antwerp 1639-circa 1700), Portrait of Hortense Mancini, Duchess of Mazarin, as Cleopatra, oil on canvas, 75.1 x 60.9cm (29 9/16 x 24in). Estimate £20,000 - 30,000 (€24,000 - 36,000). Photo Bonhams

Provenance: Acquired at the beginning of the 20th century by Commander Charles Edward Evans of the Evans and Reid Coal Company Ltd, who hung it at his country house, Nailsea Court, Somerset, until his death in 1944, when it was bequeathed to his daughter, Primrose, and thence by descent to the present owner.

Notes: The quality of the present portrait by Jakob Ferdinand Voet may be compared to the extremely fine oval version by Voet in the Castello Masino; while a version which follows this rectangular format is in Earl Spencer's collection at Althorp House. A 'limned' miniature of the Duchess of Mazarin is recorded as having been in the Royal Collection during the reigns of James II and William III, which is probably the miniature copy of Voet's portrait which is still in the Royal Collection. A further copy after Voet is in the Musée des beaux-arts de Chambéry.

Hortense Mancini (Rome 1646-1699, Chelsea) was the favourite niece of Cardinal Mazarin, the at one time all-powerful Chief-Minister to Louis XIV of France, and the fourth of the five Mancini sisters, who were celebrated at the French court for their great beauty. When in exile Charles II of England proposed to Hortense in 1659, but his offer was rejected by her powerful uncle who believed Charles at that time to have little in the way of prospects. Mazarin realised his mistake when Charles was reinstated as King of England only months later. It was then the Cardinal who approached Charles, offering a dowry of 5 million livres, but Charles refused.

Following her marriage to Armand Charles de La Porte de La Meilleraye, one of the richest men in Europe and the death of her uncle soon after, Hortense became fabulously wealthy, the Palais Mazarin in Paris being known for its fine art collection. At one point she was reported to have been the richest lady in Europe. The marriage was not a happy one, Hortense finding affection elsewhere, notoriously first in the person of the sixteen-year-old Sidonie de Courcelles (she was also famous for cross-dressing). Following impoverishment after her estrangement from and the subsequent death of her husband, Hortense's fortunes were revived when she travelled to England, becomingMaîtresse en titre to Charles II by the middle of 1676. 

After her fall from favour with Charles and his subsequent death, Hortense's name was romantically linked with the Countess of Sussex, the Prince of Monaco and even the poet, Aphra Ben. When James II succeeded his brother in 1685 the Duchess continued to be provided for, no doubt because the new Queen, Mary of Modena, was her niece. She went on to preside over a salon of intellectuals. The symbolism of the present composition might be considered eerily prescient since it is thought that Hortense may have committed suicide.

Bonhams. OLD MASTER PAINTINGS, 14:00 BST, LONDON, NEW BOND STREET