Comtesse de la Châtre by Élisabeth Vigee Le Brun - 1789 - 114.3 x 87.6 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art Comtesse de la Châtre by Élisabeth Vigee Le Brun - 1789 - 114.3 x 87.6 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art

Comtesse de la Châtre

oil on canvas • 114.3 x 87.6 cm
  • Élisabeth Vigee Le Brun - April 16, 1755 - March 30, 1842 Élisabeth Vigee Le Brun 1789

When this portrait was painted in 1789, the sitter, daughter of Louis XV's premier valet de chambre, was the wife of the Comte de la Châtre. She later married François Arnail de Jaucourt. For daily wear and for portraits, Vigée Le Brun favoured white muslin dresses in this style for what she saw as their timeless, classical simplicity.