French school from the last third of the 17th century Portrait of a woman of Letters during the reign of Louis XIV, in a blue dress with a long veil of Venetian lace with floral motifs. Oil on canvas. 81 x 65 cm. Reversed; on the reverse, two small pieces of reinforcement in the lower part. Antique frame in carved and gilded wood with foliate scrolls. Likely to have been painted in the literary milieu of the Salon women writers, letter-writers and novelists in Paris and the provinces, such as Madeleine Scudéry, the Comtesse de la Suze (1618-1673) Madeleine de Souvré, Marquise de Sablé (1599-1678), Madame de Sévigné (1626-1696) or Madame de Lafayette (1634-1693). Provenance: On the reverse, a collection stamp partly faded: Collection de Mr de BARRE (?) / Nancy.