VALLIERE (LOUISA, DUCHESS DE LA), a beautiful and innocent young Woman, in the service of Henrietta, Duchess of Orleans.
Louis XIV. was in love with the latter; but, to hide it from the eyes of the duke, pretended to attach himself to La Valliere, till his passion became real. She is said to have given Fontaine the idea of "grace still more beautiful than beauty." She was not intriguing in the least; she seemed to love the monarch for himself. When he left her for Madame de Montespan, she refused lovers, and offers of marriage, with disdain. She had two children, by Lewis, whom she tenderly loved; but on being told of the death of one, "It is not that, but his birth," said she, "which ought to afflict me." Wishing to expiate her faults, she became a Carmelite, in 1675. She paraphrased the Psalm in which David laments his sins; and wrote many religious pieces; amongst others, Reflections on the Mercy of God.
VAN-OESTERWICK (MARIA),
Is justly placed among the best artists of Holland. She painted only fruit and flowers; but she painted in the highest perfection: she died 1673.
VANPEA-VOLTERS (HENRIETTA), her Father's scholar.
Was born at Amsterdam, and was eminent as a miniature painter. She died 1741.
