As one of several events in 2008 paying tribute to female artists and patrons, with Marie d'Orléans, 1813-1839 the Louvre honors a figure emblematic of the tastes and aspirations of her time. Bringing together drawings, sculptures, paintings, furniture and personal objects-some made available thanks to exceptional loans from her descendants-this exhibition offers viewers insights into the artistry of Marie d'Orléans as well as her celebrated neo-Gothic salon.

This portrayal is paired with an exhibition held at the Musée Condé in Chantilly, which presents sculptures executed by the princess preserved by her brother the Duc d'Aumale and restored especially for the exhibition. The Louvre and the Condé are thus the first museums to pay homage to an individual who made an exceptional contribution to the history of taste, both as a princess and patron of the arts and as a romantic artist herself.

A Princess of Orléans

The second daughter of Louis-Philippe, Marie was born in Palermo in 1813. Like all the king's other children, she received a solid and wellrounded education. As a young girl, she already exhibited unusual curiosity and an openness to new ideas, like her elder brother the Duc d'Orléans, a great patron of the arts and avid collector. With more modest means at her disposal and despite an even shorter life span, Marie was able to forge close ties with several artists, including the silversmith Charles Wagner, the architect Théodore Charpentier, and especially the painter Ary Scheffer. This last individual, the art tutor for Louis-Philippe's children, served as her mentor, intellectual guide, even influencing her selection of reading materials, as well as her artistic advisor. The marriage of her sister Louise with King Leopold I of Belgium in 1832 brought about a change in the temperament of Marie d'Orléans, according to her own entourage. Marie herself, in her voluminous correspondence with Louise, often expresses her profound despair at being separated from her sister. However, evincing the critical bent for which she was well known, she also reports on her readings, recent concerts and plays she has attended, current events,and public opinion. As was made clear, Marie had little interest in the events on the social calendar customarily of vital importance to someone of her station. Indeed, it was from this point forward that she began increasingly to devote herself to drawing, then sculpture, while finding consolation and strength in her increasing piety.

In 1837, Marie married Duke Alexander of Württemberg and gave birth to a son in 1838. All was not rosy however, as for some time she had suffered from a persistent cough. Her physicians sent her to Italy, where she died, in Pisa, in January 1839. Learning of the sudden passing of the princess, Jules Janin spoke for all of his contemporaries when he wrote, "We artists have lost a sister."

Marie d'Orléans the Artist

While still very young, Marie d'Orléans took up drawing, under the tutelage of the painter Ary Scheffer, without much success. Beginning in 1832, she tried her luck with historical subjects colored with wash, displaying considerable talent in composition, although she was hampered by certain difficulties in execution. Losing hope of advancing any further as an artist, in 1834 she turned to sculpture, at the prompting of Ary Scheffer, who was as intrigued as his pupil by this new idea. Most of the portraits of Marie d'Orléans at work are of his hand (Marie d'Orléans Drawing in Her Studio and Portrait of Marie d'Orléans in Her Studio). Works by Marie d'Orléans, few in number but often re-executed as gifts for the various members of her family, are generally either religious in inspiration (Angel of Submissiveness), or deal with historical or literary subjects (The Parting Glance, after The Tear by Byron or Ahasvérus by Edgard Quinet). Marie bequeathed her sculptures and drawings to her mentor. In addition, between 1848 and 1858 Scheffer preserved certain furnishings from Marie's salon in his studio on rue Chaptal in Paris.

A Neo-Gothic Salon in the Tuileries