Self-portrait
Oil on canvas 100 x 82 cm. Richly carved frame.
Minor crazings.
Élisabeth Vigée Lebrun’s self-portrait from 1790 was painted after the artist had fled revolutionary France for Italy. The portrait was placed in the Uffizi in Florence, in a gallery alongside self-portraits by other artists. Here, she is shown seated in her dark dress, decorated with delicate lace and a red ribbon, holding brushes and a palette in front of her easel. Marie Antoinette’s face can be seen on the canvas before her. The painting may be viewed as a demonstration of Vigée-Lebrun’s loyalty and support for the French queen, her former patron and client. As the queen’s official portrait painter, she produced several acclaimed portraits, but she is also remembered for her self-portraits, executed with great finesse and sensitivity.