(Paris c. 1600–1669 Turin)
Portrait of Electress Henriette Adelheid of Bavaria, née Princess of Savoy,
oil on canvas, 96 x 77 cm, framed

We are grateful to Arabella Cifani for confirming the authenticity of the present painting. A certificate is available.

In 1637, Philibert Torret was called to the court of Turin by Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy. He painted elegant portraits of the members of the royal family in the international Baroque style. The present painting depicts one of the most prominent electresses in Bavarian history of whom surprisingly few contemporary portraits have survived.

On 8 December 1650, Henriette Adelheid was married by proxy to Prince Ferdinand Maria of Bavaria, heir to the throne and future elector, in a festive ceremony in the cathedral of Turin, with her brother, Charles Emmanuel II, stepping in for the absent bridegroom. The marriage had been initiated by Cardinal Mazarin, who, in 1647, had suggested the wedding project in a message to the Bavarian envoys present at the Spanish court. For a long time, the princess’s mother had hoped that Henriette Adelaide would marry the French crown prince, the future king Louis XIV. Before the marriage settlement was signed on 14 May 1650, the Munich court had collected detailed information about the Savoyan ducal family via their spy Ferdinando Egartner, who had been sent to Turin under the name of Aloise Rizzi. These secret reports, which also confirmed Henriette’s legendary beauty, prompted the Bavarian elector Maximilian I to insist on his son’s marrying Henriette Adelheid instead of her sister, Margherita. Due to his father’s early death, Ferdinand Maria succeeded him as Elector of Bavaria only one year after the wedding, so that Henriette Adelheid became the electress of a country she had never set foot on by then. On 25 June 1652, the couple was married again in Munich.

Adelheid was an important advisor of her husband. She was prominently involved in the construction of Nymphenburg Palace and of the Theatine Church and invited foreign artists to the Munich court. Adelheid also strongly influenced Bavaria’s policy in favour of France, which finally resulted in an alliance between Bavaria and France against the House of Habsburg. The festivities she organised were famous for their great splendour.