Madame Desperrières
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Jeanne-Rosalie-Émilie de Prinsac des Périers (1773–1860), known in error as Madame Desperrières, was a French portrait painter active during the Napoleonic Empire and the Bourbon Restoration. She exhibited at the Paris Salon from the early 1810s and is best known for her royalist portraits, including a state-commissioned portrait of Marie-Thérèse, Duchess of Angoulême and an official portrait of King Louis XVIII.
Jeanne-Rosalie-Émilie de Prinsac was born in Paris on 11 April 1773.[1] She began her professional artistic career around 1812, maintaining a studio in Saint-Germain-des-Prés at 19 Cour du Commerce-Saint-André, a passageway earlier associated with Enlightenment and revolutionary activity.[note 1][2]
On 10 November 1790, de Prinsac married Edme-Louis-Dalmas des Périers, later Baron des Périers, a cavalry officer who was created a hereditary baron by letters patent on 30 May 1817.[3] The couple had a son, André-Joseph-Hyacinthe, who served as an officer in the Paris gendarmerie.[4][5]
Des Périers' name appears in historical sources with several variations, including Desperiers, Despériers, Desperrière, Desperrières and Desperières.[note 2][6] She died at Saint-Mandé on 30 March 1860.[5]
Legitimist Activity and Support for Louis XVII
Beyond her work as a portrait painter, Desperrières was actively involved in legitimist circles in Paris. She hosted gatherings of royalist supporters at her home, including high-ranking figures such as the marquis de Vibraye, the marquis de Goimpy, M. Bourbon-Leblanc, and M. Labreli de Fontaine. These networks coordinated efforts to promote the cause of Louis XVII and the Bourbon monarchy during and after the Napoleonic Empire.
A police report of the period notes Desperrières’ role in recruiting and organising loyalists, particularly among colleagues of her son at the Paris gendarmerie.[7][8]
