Jean-Marc Nattier - Thalia, muse of comedy (detail)

Jean-Marc Nattier (1685–1766) was a French Rococo painter noted for his portraits of the ladies of King Louis XV’s court in classical mythological attire. Born into a family of artists. The first lessons of painting Jean-Marc Nattier received from his father, then attended drawing courses at the Royal Academy. At the age of fifteen Nattier was awarded the first art prize of the Paris Academy. In 1717 Nattier went on a trip to Holland, met in Amsterdam with Peter, and drew portraits of the king and the Russian Empress Catherine. Jean-Marc Nattier spent almost all his life in Paris.