Sofonisba Anguissola
Italian Painter 1532-1625
It is thought that both Marie Antoinette and Madame de Pompadour helped the Papillon become fashionable and they both admired and owned this breed. Madame de Pompadour was the mistress of King Louis XIV, and owned Inez and Mimi which were her two pet Papillons. Marie Antoinette had a Sevres porcelain model of a Phalene (Papillon with drop ears) in her room that was only found after her death. She was beheaded at the guillotine and her two pet Papillons were looked after by the inhabitants of the house until they died. Her house in Paris, France is known today as ‘The House of the Papillon’.In France, the City of Lyon in the late 16th century was known for breeding these miniature dogs.Until the French revolution, Papillon dogs were the most popular breed of dog in the courts in France. In Italy, the Bologna region probably had the largest trade in Papillons, as they sold many of the dogs to the court of Louis XIV. It was said that they were transported on the back of mules through Spain.