Attributed to François Albert STIEMART (1680-1740) Portrait of Marie Leszczynska holding an orange blossom and an orange, in a garden with a dwarf mastiff and an English spaniel Canvas 145 x 115 cm Louis XV period wood and gilded stucco frame Old restorations Provenance : Private collection, Limousin ; Anonymous sale, Orléans, Hôtel des Ventes (Mes Binoche et Maredsous), October 21, 2006 (Stiemart workshop, with a Portrait de Louis XV à cheval painted by Charles Parrocel). In this position, standing in front of a sphinx, wearing a yellow silk dress with a jeweled bodice and holding orange blossoms and an orange, Marie Leszczynska can be found in several other known versions: one in the Château de Versailles (206.5 x 147 cm) (as well as a portrait in an identical composition for the portrait of Marie Adelaïde de Savoie), another in the Grand Trianon (190.5 x 154.7 cm), one in Nancy, Musée historique lorrain (156.5 x 127 cm) as well as another version in the Princely Palace of Monaco. A final version was sold in June 2025 in Monaco, Hotel des Ventes de Monaco (Stiemart workshop). In all these compositions, Marie Leszczynska is accompanied by a young page supporting her train on the right, and a sweetheart holding her crown on a cushion on the left. In our composition, the queen is accompanied by two dogs, in front of a palace with fluted columns. Our picture was painted around 1725, shortly before or after Louis XV's marriage to Marie Leszczynska. It thus carries a political message. Orange blossoms and oranges are symbols of power, prestige and fertility. The orange is also a symbol of monarchical continuity. The dogs, probably painted by Christophe Huet, symbolize fidelity and marriage.