Artemis2.0100_Carmontelle

Louis Carrogis de Carmontelle (1717-1806), "Portrait of the Duchess of Chaulnes as a Gardner in an Allée" (1771), translucent and opaque watercolor over black and red chalk, 31.8 x 19.1 cm; Brentwood, CA, Getty Center Museum, West Pavilioin, Gallery W105, obj. no. 94.GC.41.

Raking a path in a secluded a garden, a young woman in an unusually fancy dress contemplates from afar the pavilioned sculpture of Artemis of Versailles.

The subject is identified in the contemporary caption as "Mme La Duchesse de Chaulmes [sic], en jardinière. 1771." She is known at age 14 to have married her cousin, by aristocratic practice typical of the time, but to have remained celebate for her entire adult life. Her husband's refusal to consummate perpetuated her virginity, as the pure whiteness of her clothing here articulates. The distant goddess belongs in this seclusion, but young gardeness' contemplative gaze arouses affinity for the divinity.

The image at right-top is derived from the Getty's website (where the image is stated to be "in public domain"); right-below from a photograph by RTM captured March 2026.