In 2014 I wrote a post on the portraits of Marie-Antoinette by Lorraine artist François Dumont. Since then several new portraits have appeared at auction including, remarkably, just last month, this beautiful miniature concealed in a snuffbox, which is said to have been carried by Louis XVI on the flight to Varennes.
I thought it might be an opportune moment to revisit my earlier essay, particularly with reference to the depiction of the Queen in antique costume, or "en vestale", of which the new miniature is a significant example.
