Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes
Encyclopedia
Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes, comtesse de Verrue (18 January 1670 – 18 November 1736) was a French noblewoman and the mistress of Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia
.
and the builder of the infamous Château de Dampierre
. Born at the Hôtel de Luynes in Paris, she was baptised at the Église Saint-Eustache
. She was named after Jean-Baptiste Colbert
.
After an education at the prestigious Abbey of Port-Royal
in Paris, she was married Joseph Ignace Scaglia, Count of Verua in between 23 August and 25 August 1683. She was just thirteen and a half years old at the time of her marriage. Her husband was a colonel de dragons and a prominent Piedmontese diplomat working for the Duke of Savoy
.
Jeanne Baptiste and her husband eventually had four children. Her husband was, "young, handsome, rich, and honest". His mother was a lady-in-waiting
to the French-born Duchess of Savoy, Anne Marie d'Orléans.
At the Savoyard capital of Turin
, the Duke of Savoy became infatuated with the young countess and by 1688 he had fallen deeply in love with her. The piously bought up countess, at first, ignored the advances of the duke who would see her in attendance on his wife, Anne Marie. Later on, the duchess and her uncle, the French king Louis XIV
, "encouraged" Madame de Verrue to take advantage of the Duke of Savoy's advances. In 1689, Jeanne Baptiste gave into the duke's overtures. The lovers became the parents of two children. The future Princess of Carignan
was born in 1690. A son, Vittorio Francesco
, was born in 1694 and was later given the title Marquis of Suza.
The most envied women at the Savoyard court due to her influence over the duke, Jeanne Baptiste tried to dabble in politics. With the help of the maréchal de Tessé
, she encouraged the marriage of the duke's eldest daughter, Princess Maria Adelaide, with Louis XIV's grandson, the Duke of Burgundy.
She also helped her brother's escape to France due to his heavy debts in October 1700. He took refuge with their aunt at the Paris.
Jeanne Baptiste was widowed in 1704, her husband dying on 13 August in the Battle of Blenheim
.
Saint-Simon
writing about her in the Regency of Philippe d'Orléans
said the following on Madame de Verrue:
He goes on:
She returned to Paris in 1700 without her two children, Maria Vittoria Francesca
and Vittorio Francesco, but with a considerable fortune.
When Jeanne Baptiste was allegedly poisoned, it was the famous Madame de Ventadour
who helped to cure the ill countess. Madame de Ventadour went on to be the saviour of the infant Duke of Brittany
, the future Louis XV, whose parents the Duke and Duchess of Burgundy died from measles
within a week of each other in February 1712. Madame de Ventadour would be devoted to the future Louis XV.
After living as a recluse for more than three years at the request of her husband, "the eccentric countess reappeared in the world [with] her 'ésprit' as well as Jean-Baptiste Glucq," said Saint-Simon, who went on to say that the two secretly married. This, however, has never been proven. Every year, when the court was at Fontainebleau, she would stay at Glucq's residence at the Château de Sainte-Assise at Seine-Port
. Later on, she stayed at the Château de Condé
at Condé-en-Brie
with another intimate, the marquis de La Faye.
During her time in France, she was well known at court. Jeanne Baptiste was a good friend of Monsieur le Duc, future Prime minister of France, and his mother Madame la Duchesse Douairière
who was her age. Madame la Duchesse was the eldest surviving illegitimate daughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan
.
A great letter writer, she was interested in art, science and even kept in contact with the budding Voltaire
and other philosophers. In Paris, she installed the numerous gifts she received when in Turin, at the Hôtel d'Hauterive – now destroyed since by the creation of the Boulevard Raspail
– which she enlarged to house her already large collection of objets d'art. She even bought the neighbouring property owned by the Discalced Carmelites
in order to help house her relations.
Having her own salon in Paris, it was attended by the Abbé Terrasson
, Rothelin
, the Garde des sceaux de France
, Chauvelin
, Jean-Baptiste de Montullé, the marquis de Lassay and his son Léon of Madaillan of Lesparre, Count of Lassay and many other that came to set up themselves close to at her home.
During the Regency
, she increased her fortune increased greatly thanks to the Système de Law, the brainchild of John Law
a Scottish economist who was a protégé of the Regent of France
. With her larger fortune, she ordered the construction of two town residences
to be constructed by the architect Victor Dailly. Out of the two, one remains and can be seen at 1 Rue du Regard. That was the place where the Conseil de guerre
was housed and had connections with Alfred Dreyfus
. It was demolished in 1894. The hôtel de Verrue was never inhabited by Jeanne Baptiste. She instead lived at number 8 Rue d'Assas
near the Palais du Luxembourg
. The hôtel de Verrue was built in 1740. She also lived at the hôtel d'Aubeterre where she enlarged its gallery to better show her famous collection. That gallery was painted by Claude Audran
and can be seen today at the Musée des Arts décoratifs in Paris.
Jeanne Baptiste died in Paris at the age of 66. Very generous in her will, she even left things for her birds which lived in a lavish aviary. Her epitaph went as follows:
She was also had a great interest in archtiecture and buildings in general. On 12 July 1713 she acquired a house in the town of Meudon
, near the old seat of le grand Dauphin. On the 27th of the same month, she ordered the reconstruction of that building to Pierre-Nicolas Delespine using plans by Jean Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond
. She commissioned paintings by Lancret
, Alexis Grimou, and possessed paintings by David Teniers the Younger
and Antoine Watteau
. She even owned a Portrait of Charles I of England
by Van Dyke
.
Despite a dazzling collection of art, she was one of the greatest bibliophiles of her time. She kept them in a large room furnished with Boulle
pieces and overlooking the garden. She possessed around 18,000 volumes (in Paris and her house at Meudon). This vast private library was sadly dispersed in 1737. Only 3,000 of them remained together.
Her daughter married in 1714 to the Prince of Carignan. The couple had five children and through them, Jeanne Baptiste was an ancestor of the murdered princesse de Lamballe, the present Prince Napoléon and the Prince of Naples
.
Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia
Victor Amadeus II was Duke of Savoy from 1675 to 1730. He also held the titles of marquis of Saluzzo, duke of Montferrat, prince of Piedmont, count of Aosta, Moriana and Nizza. Louis XIV organised his marriage in order to maintain French influence in the Duchy but Victor Amadeus soon broke away...
.
Biography
The daughter of Louis Charles d'Albert, Dukes of Luynes (1620–1690) and his second wife Anne de Rohan (1644–1684), she had five full siblings. She was the granddaughter of Marie de Rohan. Her older half-brother was Charles Honoré d'Albert de Luynes, a private advisor to Louis XIVLouis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
and the builder of the infamous Château de Dampierre
Château de Dampierre
The Château de Dampierre is the castle in Dampierre-en-Yvelines, in the Vallée de Chevreuse, France.Built by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, 1675-1683 for the duc de Chevreuse, Colbert's son-in-law, it is a French Baroque château of manageable size...
. Born at the Hôtel de Luynes in Paris, she was baptised at the Église Saint-Eustache
Église Saint-Eustache, Paris
L’église Saint-Eustache is a church in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, built between 1532 and 1632.Situated at the entrance to Paris’s ancient markets and the beginning of rue Montorgueil, the Église de Saint-Eustache is considered a masterpiece of late Gothic architecture...
. She was named after Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert was a French politician who served as the Minister of Finances of France from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister. He achieved a reputation for his work of improving the state of French manufacturing...
.
After an education at the prestigious Abbey of Port-Royal
Port-Royal Abbey, Paris
Port-Royal Abbey was an abbey in Paris that was a stronghold of Jansenism. It was first built in 1626 to relieve pressure of numbers on the mother house at Port-Royal-des-Champs....
in Paris, she was married Joseph Ignace Scaglia, Count of Verua in between 23 August and 25 August 1683. She was just thirteen and a half years old at the time of her marriage. Her husband was a colonel de dragons and a prominent Piedmontese diplomat working for the Duke of Savoy
Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia
Victor Amadeus II was Duke of Savoy from 1675 to 1730. He also held the titles of marquis of Saluzzo, duke of Montferrat, prince of Piedmont, count of Aosta, Moriana and Nizza. Louis XIV organised his marriage in order to maintain French influence in the Duchy but Victor Amadeus soon broke away...
.
Jeanne Baptiste and her husband eventually had four children. Her husband was, "young, handsome, rich, and honest". His mother was a lady-in-waiting
Lady-in-waiting
A lady-in-waiting is a female personal assistant at a royal court, attending on a queen, a princess, or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman from a family highly thought of in good society, but was of lower rank than the woman on whom she...
to the French-born Duchess of Savoy, Anne Marie d'Orléans.
At the Savoyard capital of Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, the Duke of Savoy became infatuated with the young countess and by 1688 he had fallen deeply in love with her. The piously bought up countess, at first, ignored the advances of the duke who would see her in attendance on his wife, Anne Marie. Later on, the duchess and her uncle, the French king Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
, "encouraged" Madame de Verrue to take advantage of the Duke of Savoy's advances. In 1689, Jeanne Baptiste gave into the duke's overtures. The lovers became the parents of two children. The future Princess of Carignan
Maria Vittoria Francesca of Savoy
Maria Vittoria of Savoy was an illegitimate daughter of Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia and his favourite mistress Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes, estranged wife of Joseph Ignace Scaglia, Count of Verua. She was an ancestor of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy and thus the whole present pretending...
was born in 1690. A son, Vittorio Francesco
Vittorio Francesco Filippo of Savoy, Marquis of Susa
Vittorio Francesco of Savoy was the illegitimate son of Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia and Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes and a Piedmontese military...
, was born in 1694 and was later given the title Marquis of Suza.
The most envied women at the Savoyard court due to her influence over the duke, Jeanne Baptiste tried to dabble in politics. With the help of the maréchal de Tessé
René de Froulay de Tessé
René de Froulay, comte de Tessé was a French Marshal and diplomat.- Military career :Tessé was born at Le Mans...
, she encouraged the marriage of the duke's eldest daughter, Princess Maria Adelaide, with Louis XIV's grandson, the Duke of Burgundy.
She also helped her brother's escape to France due to his heavy debts in October 1700. He took refuge with their aunt at the Paris.
Jeanne Baptiste was widowed in 1704, her husband dying on 13 August in the Battle of Blenheim
Battle of Blenheim
The Battle of Blenheim , fought on 13 August 1704, was a major battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. Louis XIV of France sought to knock Emperor Leopold out of the war by seizing Vienna, the Habsburg capital, and gain a favourable peace settlement...
.
Saint-Simon
Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon
Louis de Rouvroy commonly known as Saint-Simon was a French soldier, diplomatist and writer of memoirs, was born in Paris...
writing about her in the Regency of Philippe d'Orléans
Régence
The Régence is the period in French history between 1715 and 1723, when King Louis XV was a minor and the land was governed by a Regent, Philippe d'Orléans, the nephew of Louis XIV of France....
said the following on Madame de Verrue:
M. de Savoie often met Madame de Verrue, and soon found her much to his taste. She saw this, and said so to her husband and her mother-in-law. They praised her, but took no further notice of the matter. M. de Savoie redoubled his attentions, and, contrary to his usual custom, gave fetes, which the Madame de Verrue felt were for her. She did all she could not to attend them, but her mother-in-law quarrelled with her, said she wished to play the important, and that it was her vanity which gave her these ideas. Her husband, more gentle, desired her to attend these fetes, saying that even if M. de Savoie were really in love with her, it would not do to fail in anything towards him. Soon after M. de Savoie spoke to the Madame de Verrue. She told her husband and her mother-in-law, and used every entreaty in order to prevail upon them to let her go and pass some time in the country. They would not listen to her, and seeing no other course open, she feigned to be ill, and had herself sent to the waters of Bourbon. She wrote to her father, the Duc de Luynes, to meet her there, and set out under the charge of the Abbé de Verrue, uncle of her husband. As soon as the Duke of Luynes arrived at Bourbon, and became acquainted with the danger which threatened his daughter; he conferred with the Abbé as to the best course to adopt, and agreed with him that Madame should remain away from Turin some time, in order that M. de Savoie might get cured of his passion. M. de Luynes little thought that he had conferred with a wolf who wished to carry off his lamb. The Abbé de Verrue, it seems, was himself violently in love with Madame de Verrue, and directly her father had gone declared the state of his heart. Finding himself only repulsed, the miserable old man turned his love into hate, ill-treated Madame de Verrue, and upon her return to Turin, lost no opportunity of injuring her in the eyes of her husband and her mother-in-law.
He goes on:
"Madame de Verrue suffered this for some time, but at last her virtue yielded to the bad treatment she received. She listened to the Duke of Savoy, and delivered herself up to him in order to free herself from persecution. Is not this a real romance? But it happened in our time, under the eyes and to the knowledge of everybody."
"When the truth became known, the Verrues were in despair, although they had only themselves to blame for what had happened. Soon the new mistress ruled all the Court of Savoie, whose sovereign was at her feet as before a goddess. She disposed of the favours of her lover, and was feared and courted by the ministry. Her haughtiness made her hated; she was poisoned; M. de Savoie gave her a subtle antidote, which fortunately cured her, and without injury to her beauty. Her reign lasted. After a while she had the small-pox. M. de Savoie tended her during this illness, as though he had been a nurse; and although her face suffered a little by it, he loved her not the less. But he loved her after his own fashion. He kept her shut up from view, and at last she grew so tired of her restraint that she was determined to fly. She conferred with her [youngest] brother, the Chevalier de Luynes, who served with much distinction in the navy, and together they arranged the matter."
"They seized an opportunity when M. de Savoie had gone on a tour to Chambéry, and departed furtively. Crossing our frontier, they arrived in Paris, where Madame de Verrue, who had grown very rich, took a house, and by degrees succeeded in getting people to come and see her, though, at first, owing to the scandal of her life, this was difficult. In the end, her opulence gained her a large number of friends, and she availed herself so well of her opportunities, that she became of much importance, and influenced strongly the government. But that time goes beyond my memoirs. She left in Turin a son and a daughter, both recognised by M. de Savoie, after the manner of our King. He loved passionately these illegitimate children, and married the daughter to the Prince of Carignan."
She returned to Paris in 1700 without her two children, Maria Vittoria Francesca
Maria Vittoria Francesca of Savoy
Maria Vittoria of Savoy was an illegitimate daughter of Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia and his favourite mistress Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes, estranged wife of Joseph Ignace Scaglia, Count of Verua. She was an ancestor of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy and thus the whole present pretending...
and Vittorio Francesco, but with a considerable fortune.
When Jeanne Baptiste was allegedly poisoned, it was the famous Madame de Ventadour
Madame de Ventadour
Charlotte de La Motte Houdancourt, Duchess of Ventadour was the governess of King Louis XV of France, great-grandson of King Louis XIV. She is credited with saving Louis XV from the ministrations of the royal doctors when he was ill as a child...
who helped to cure the ill countess. Madame de Ventadour went on to be the saviour of the infant Duke of Brittany
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
, the future Louis XV, whose parents the Duke and Duchess of Burgundy died from measles
Measles
Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...
within a week of each other in February 1712. Madame de Ventadour would be devoted to the future Louis XV.
After living as a recluse for more than three years at the request of her husband, "the eccentric countess reappeared in the world [with] her 'ésprit' as well as Jean-Baptiste Glucq," said Saint-Simon, who went on to say that the two secretly married. This, however, has never been proven. Every year, when the court was at Fontainebleau, she would stay at Glucq's residence at the Château de Sainte-Assise at Seine-Port
Seine-Port
Seine-Port is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.-External links:* * * *...
. Later on, she stayed at the Château de Condé
Château de Condé
The Château de Condé is a private estate in Condé-en-Brie, Aisne, France, set in its park with three-hundred-year-old trees, on the Champagne route and 100 km from Paris....
at Condé-en-Brie
Condé-en-Brie
Condé-en-Brie is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France.-Population:-References:*...
with another intimate, the marquis de La Faye.
During her time in France, she was well known at court. Jeanne Baptiste was a good friend of Monsieur le Duc, future Prime minister of France, and his mother Madame la Duchesse Douairière
Louise-Françoise de Bourbon
Louise Françoise de Bourbon, Légitimée de France was the eldest surviving legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France and his maîtresse-en-titre, Madame de Montespan. She was said to have been named after her godmother, Louise de La Vallière, the woman that her mother had replaced as the king's...
who was her age. Madame la Duchesse was the eldest surviving illegitimate daughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan
Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan
Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, marquise of Montespan , better known as Madame de Montespan, was the most celebrated maîtresse en titre of King Louis XIV of France, by whom she had seven children....
.
A great letter writer, she was interested in art, science and even kept in contact with the budding Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
and other philosophers. In Paris, she installed the numerous gifts she received when in Turin, at the Hôtel d'Hauterive – now destroyed since by the creation of the Boulevard Raspail
Boulevard Raspail
Boulevard Raspail is a boulevard of Paris, in France.Its orientation is north-south, and joins boulevard Saint-Germain with place Denfert-Rochereau whilst traversing 7th, 6th and 14th arrondissements...
– which she enlarged to house her already large collection of objets d'art. She even bought the neighbouring property owned by the Discalced Carmelites
Discalced Carmelites
The Discalced Carmelites, or Barefoot Carmelites, is a Catholic mendicant order with roots in the eremitic tradition of the Desert Fathers and Mothers...
in order to help house her relations.
Having her own salon in Paris, it was attended by the Abbé Terrasson
Jean Terrasson
Jean Terrasson , often referred to as the Abbe Terrasson, was a French priest, author, and most notably a member of the Académie française....
, Rothelin
Charles d'Orléans de Rothelin
Charles d'Orléans de Rothelin was a French churchman, writer, scholar, numismatist and theologian.A descendent of Dunois, he was held to be one of the wisest bibliophiles of his time and owned an important cabinet of medals...
, the Garde des sceaux de France
Keeper of the Seals of France
Keeper of the Seals of France was an office of the French monarchy under the Ancien Régime. Its principal function was to supplement or assist the Chancellor of France. Its successor office under the Republic is the Keeper of the Seals, a title held by the Minister of Justice....
, Chauvelin
Germain Louis Chauvelin
Germain Louis Chauvelin , marquis de Grosbois, was a French politician, serving as garde des sceaux and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs under Louis XV.-Life:...
, Jean-Baptiste de Montullé, the marquis de Lassay and his son Léon of Madaillan of Lesparre, Count of Lassay and many other that came to set up themselves close to at her home.
During the Regency
Régence
The Régence is the period in French history between 1715 and 1723, when King Louis XV was a minor and the land was governed by a Regent, Philippe d'Orléans, the nephew of Louis XIV of France....
, she increased her fortune increased greatly thanks to the Système de Law, the brainchild of John Law
John Law (economist)
John Law was a Scottish economist who believed that money was only a means of exchange that did not constitute wealth in itself and that national wealth depended on trade...
a Scottish economist who was a protégé of the Regent of France
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Philippe d'Orléans was a member of the royal family of France and served as Regent of the Kingdom from 1715 to 1723. Born at his father's palace at Saint-Cloud, he was known from birth under the title of Duke of Chartres...
. With her larger fortune, she ordered the construction of two town residences
Hôtel particulier
In French contexts an hôtel particulier is an urban "private house" of a grand sort. Whereas an ordinary maison was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a street, an hôtel particulier was often free-standing, and by the 18th century it...
to be constructed by the architect Victor Dailly. Out of the two, one remains and can be seen at 1 Rue du Regard. That was the place where the Conseil de guerre
Council of war
A council of war is a term in military science that describes a meeting held to decide on a course of action, usually in the midst of a battle. Under normal circumstances, decisions are made by a commanding officer, optionally communicated and coordinated by staff officers, and then implemented by...
was housed and had connections with Alfred Dreyfus
Alfred Dreyfus
Alfred Dreyfus was a French artillery officer of Jewish background whose trial and conviction in 1894 on charges of treason became one of the most tense political dramas in modern French and European history...
. It was demolished in 1894. The hôtel de Verrue was never inhabited by Jeanne Baptiste. She instead lived at number 8 Rue d'Assas
Rue d'Assas
Rue d'Assas is a street in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, named after Nicolas-Louis d'Assas.-Features:* Musée Edouard Branly * Musée "Bible et Terre Sainte" * Main campus of Pantheon-Assas Paris II University...
near the Palais du Luxembourg
Luxembourg Palace
The Luxembourg Palace in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, north of the Luxembourg Garden , is the seat of the French Senate.The formal Luxembourg Garden presents a 25-hectare green parterre of gravel and lawn populated with statues and provided with large basins of water where children sail model...
. The hôtel de Verrue was built in 1740. She also lived at the hôtel d'Aubeterre where she enlarged its gallery to better show her famous collection. That gallery was painted by Claude Audran
Claude Audran III
Claude Audran III was a French painter.Audran was born in Lyon into a family of artists. He was a decorative artist, and made a number of tapestries for the Gobelins. Audran's style included arabesques, grotesques and singeries. He died in 1734. -References:...
and can be seen today at the Musée des Arts décoratifs in Paris.
Jeanne Baptiste died in Paris at the age of 66. Very generous in her will, she even left things for her birds which lived in a lavish aviary. Her epitaph went as follows:
Ci-git, dans une paix profonde, Cette Dame de Volupté, Qui, pour plus de sûreté, Fit son paradis dans ce monde |
Here lies, in deep peace, That lady of delight, Who, as an extra precaution Made her paradise in this world |
Her collection
The collection of Madame de Verrue was renowned for its paintings of old masters, objets d'art and numerous pieces of expensive furniture. She actively increased it buying more and also buying jewellery, precious stones (more than 8000), tapestries and clothes.She was also had a great interest in archtiecture and buildings in general. On 12 July 1713 she acquired a house in the town of Meudon
Meudon
Meudon is a municipality in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is in the département of Hauts-de-Seine. It is located from the center of Paris.-Geography:...
, near the old seat of le grand Dauphin. On the 27th of the same month, she ordered the reconstruction of that building to Pierre-Nicolas Delespine using plans by Jean Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond
Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond
Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond was a French architect and garden designer who became the chief architect of Saint Petersburg in 1716.- Career in France :...
. She commissioned paintings by Lancret
Nicolas Lancret
Nicolas Lancret , French painter, was born in Paris, and became a brilliant depicter of light comedy which reflected the tastes and manners of French society under the regent Orleans....
, Alexis Grimou, and possessed paintings by David Teniers the Younger
David Teniers the Younger
David Teniers the Younger was a Flemish artist born in Antwerp, the son of David Teniers the Elder. His son David Teniers III and his grandson David Teniers IV were also painters...
and Antoine Watteau
Antoine Watteau
Jean-Antoine Watteau was a French painter whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement...
. She even owned a Portrait of Charles I of England
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
by Van Dyke
Anthony van Dyck
Sir Anthony van Dyck was a Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England. He is most famous for his portraits of Charles I of England and his family and court, painted with a relaxed elegance that was to be the dominant influence on English portrait-painting for the next...
.
Despite a dazzling collection of art, she was one of the greatest bibliophiles of her time. She kept them in a large room furnished with Boulle
André Charles Boulle
André-Charles Boulle was the French cabinetmaker who is generally considered to be the preeminent artist in the field of marquetry, even "the most remarkable of all French cabinetmakers." His fame in marquetry led to his name being given to the fashion he perfected of inlaying brass and...
pieces and overlooking the garden. She possessed around 18,000 volumes (in Paris and her house at Meudon). This vast private library was sadly dispersed in 1737. Only 3,000 of them remained together.
Her daughter married in 1714 to the Prince of Carignan. The couple had five children and through them, Jeanne Baptiste was an ancestor of the murdered princesse de Lamballe, the present Prince Napoléon and the Prince of Naples
Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples
Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, formerly Crown Prince of Italy is the only son of the Umberto II, the last King of Italy. He is commonly known in Italy as Vittorio Emanuele di Savoia...
.
Portrayals
- Dumas. Alexandre, 1863, La Dame de Volupté; Mémoires de Jeanne d'Albert de Luynes, Comtesse de Verrue, Paris.
- La Putain du roiThe King's WhoreThe King's Whore is a 1990 drama film directed by Axel Corti. It was entered into the 1990 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot:Set in the 17th-century, an Italian nobleman weds an impoverished countess, who is wooed by the King of Piedmont and faces pressure from his entire court to succumb to his...
(The Kings whore) a 1990 film by Axel CortiAxel CortiAxel Corti was an Austrian writer and director.- Life :...
;
Issue
- Maria Vittoria Francesca of SavoyMaria Vittoria Francesca of SavoyMaria Vittoria of Savoy was an illegitimate daughter of Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia and his favourite mistress Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes, estranged wife of Joseph Ignace Scaglia, Count of Verua. She was an ancestor of Victor Emmanuel II of Italy and thus the whole present pretending...
(9 February 1690 – 8 July 1766) married Victor Amadeus, Prince of CarignanVictor Amadeus, Prince of CarignanVictor Amadeus of Savoy was an Italian nobleman who was Prince of Carignano from 1709 to 1741. He was the son of Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy, Prince of Carignano and his wife, the Maria Angela Caterina d'Este.-Biography:...
on 7 November 1714 - Vittorio Francesco of SavoyVittorio Francesco Filippo of Savoy, Marquis of SusaVittorio Francesco of Savoy was the illegitimate son of Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia and Jeanne Baptiste d'Albert de Luynes and a Piedmontese military...
(10 December 1694 - 20 March 1762) married Maria Lucrezia Franchi di Pont but had no issue;