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The sitter of this portrait is Philippe of France, Duke of Orléans (1640-1701), the younger son of Louis XIII of France and his wife, Anne of Austria, brother of Louis XIV, bearing the cross of the Order of the Holy Spirit.
During the reign of his brother he was known simply as Monsieur, the traditional style at the court of France for the younger brother of the king. He married twice fathering several children, thus founding the House of Orléans, a cadet branch of the ruling House of Bourbon.
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