FRENCH SCHOOL circa 1780, entourage of Antoine VESTIER "Portrait of Madame de Richelieu, née Jeanne de Lavaulx". Oil on canvas Height 74 - Width 60 cm (Re-staining and restorations) Bibliography : J. Levron, Le maréchal de Richelieu, un libertin fastueux, Paris, 1971, reproduced ; C. Carrère, Les amours scandaleuses du Maréchal - Duc de Richelieu, Paris, 1980, reproduced. Jeanne de Lavault (1741 - 1815) was married to the Count of Rothe, before becoming, in 1780, the last wife of the Marshal - Duke of Richelieu, grand-nephew of Cardinal de Richelieu. Born into an ancient Lorraine family, Jeanne de Lavault married Chevalier Edmond de Rothe, of Irish Jacobite origin, in 1764. At first, the couple were very wealthy, thanks to Edmond de Rothe's trading activities in the Far East. He died during an expedition in 1772, completely ruined. The Maréchal de Richelieu, reputed to be a great seducer, decided to remarry after a second widowhood. He had obtained for Madame de Rothe and her children a flat in the Louvre, intended for the penniless nobility. Aged 84, 38 years older than Madame de Rothe, the couple communicated by carrier pigeon, hence the wink in our portrait. The marshal was unable to climb the stairs to this flat. EXPERT: René MILLET