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It is thought that the portrait represents Marguerite Josèphe Richard, the first wife of Pierre Jacques Onèsyme Bergeret (1715-1785), one of Boucher's most enthusiastic patrons and the first owner of the painting. The painting is signed and dated, but the date of 1746 on the centre left of the painting is spurious.
Boucher painted some nine portraits of the Marquise of Pompadour in a variety of settings and attitudes. The portrait of Madame Bergeret relates to several of these in different ways.
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