Manon Balletti Epic Poster

Simple, bold and beautiful. Epic Posters are dramatic while still retaining the character of the original image.

Printed on revolutionary Tyvek® paper (a patented complex weave technique that’s almost impossible to tear), these posters are very resilient and have a satin finish. Each poster measures 6 x 4 feet (1.8 x 1.2 metres) and is delivered rolled in a tube with handy cardboard struts and robust bulldog clips for easy hanging.

About this painting

Jean-Marc Nattier's Manon Balletti, 1757
Oil on canvas, 54 x 47.5 cm
© The National Gallery, London, Bequeathed by Emilie Yznaga, 1945

This portrait was probably one exhibited by Nattier at the Salon in 1757. The sitter (1740 - 1776) was the daughter of an actress in the Comédie Italienne company, and became engaged to Casanova at about the time the portrait was painted. In 1760 she married a more reputable though older suitor, the architect Jacques-François Blondel (1705 - 1774).

In contrast to many of his court portraits, Nattier's representation of Manon Balletti is remarkable for its apparent simplicity. Liveliness is conveyed by the slight turn of the head and the attraction of the sitter emphasised by the rose pinned to her dress.

A veil attached by a brooch in her hair encloses the left side of the portrait where a string of pearls is visible, while a projecting edge of drapery on the right adds a suggestion of rhetorical grandeur to the image.