‘Only illusions are amusing …’: nature, artifice and femininity in eighteenth-century France through the lens of Louis de Carmontelle

Abstract This article considers the watercolour portraits of Louis de Carmontelle as a commentary on the relationships between illusion, reality, artifice and nature in elite French society during the eighteenth century. It focuses particularly on Carmontelle’s depictions of women adorning themselves with cosmetics and artificial flowers, arguing that the artist saw his own interest in creating illusions reflected in the self-fashioning of aristocratic women. The theoretical interests in perception that Carmontelle expressed in his writings on garden design are rarely connected to his portraiture. By considering the multiple strands of Carmontelle’s work alongside one another, I argue that the artist exposed—with wit and artfulness—the fragile construction of elite femininity on the eve of the French Revolution. As such, the portraiture of this often-overlooked artist enriches our understanding of the cultural preoccupations of his age.