Grand Ladies

Hortense's Wikipedia article is here. She was brought over to England after her failed marriage to Armand-Charles de la Porte, duc de La Meilleraye. It was hoped Hortense would replace Louise de Kérouaille as Charles II's mistress at which she first succeeded. She also had relationships with Anne, Countess of Sussex and Louis I de Grimaldi, Prince de Monaco. Louise de Kérouaille returned to Charles' favor when Hortense had her affair with Louis Grimaldi.

According to Marie Mancini's Wikipedia article, "Marie captured the biggest prize of the French court: the romantic love of Louis XIV. According to Antonia Fraser's biography Love and Louis XIV, Marie's mother, Geronima, was told by a horoscope that Marie would cause trouble and demanded on her deathbed that Cardinal Mazarin should, 'shut Marie up in a convent and keep her there.'

Marie did not consummate her relationship with the Sun King. His love for her was a somewhat idealistic one, but he was so besotted that he wanted to marry her. Eventually, Cardinal Mazarin and the young king's mother, Anne of Austria, separated the couple, banishing Marie into exile and arranging for Louis' marriage to his cousin, Maria Theresa of Spain."

Three Nieces of Cardinal Mazarin by ? (location unknown to gogm)

Lady, said to be one of the Mancini sisters, half-length, in a blue dress with a white chemise, decorated wit red ribbons attributed to Jacob Ferdinand Voet (auctioned by Christie's)

Hortense Mancini, Duchess of Mazarin, half-length, in a pale blue dress with blue and black bows attribued to Jacob Ferdinand Voet (auctioned by Bonhams)

Hortense Mancini by Jacob Ferdinand Voet (location unknown to gogm)

Hortense Mancini by ? (location unknown to gogm)

Hortensia Mancini wearing a blue dress and diamond and pearl brooch by Jacob Ferdinand Voet (auctioned by Christie's)

Maria Mancini wearing a brooch similar to Voet portrait of Hortense Mancini probably also by Voet (location unknown to gogm)

Hortense Mancini miniature portrait (location unknown to gogm)

1671 Duchess of Mazarin by Sir Godfrey Kneller (Graves Gallery, Sheffield)

1671 Hortense Mancini by Pierre Mignard (State Hermitage Museum - St. Petersburg Russia)

Hortense Mancini by Jacob Ferdinand Voet (location ?)

Hortense Mancini by Pierre Mignard (location unknown to gogm)

ca. 1675 Hortense Mancini Duchesse de Mazarin (believed to be) by Voet (Philip Mould)

ca. 1675 Hortense Mancini by Jacob Ferdinand Voet (location unknown to gogm)

Hortense Mancini after Jacob Ferdinand Voet (Rosenbach Museum & Library - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA)

Hortense Mancini by Benedetto Gennari the Younger (Musée des Beaux-Arts - Valenciennes)

Hortense Mancini by Jacob Ferdinand Voet (location unknown to gogm)

Hortense Mancini miniature (location unknown to gogm)

Hortense Mancini wearing a large feathered headdress by ? (location unknown to gogm)

Présumé d'Hortense Mancini par Justus van Egmont (auctioned by Tajan)

Marie and Hortense Mancini by Jacob Ferdinand Voet (location unknown to gogm)

ca. 1670 Hortense Mancini, Duchesse Mazarin by circle of Jacob Ferdinand Voet (Roy Precious)

Hortense Mancini print

1664 Marie Mancini by ? (location unknown to gogm)

1680 Maria Mancini (1639-1715), hertogin van Bouillon by Jacob Ferdinand Voet - Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Holland)

Marie Mancini by Jacob Ferdinand Voet (Roy Precious)

Marie Mancini holding pearls by Pierre Mignard (private collection)

Maria Mancini, Principessa Colonna by ? (Palazzo Colonna - Roma, Italy)

Maria Mancini, bust-length, in a brown embroidered dress with lace trim and pink bows by follower of Jacob Ferdinand Voet (auctioned by Bonhams)

1663-1672 Maria Mancini as Cleopatra by Jacob Ferdinand Voet (Staatliche Museen, Berlin)

Marie Mancini, principessa Colonna by Jacob Ferdinand Voet (Musée du Petit-Palais - Paris, France)