Countess of Cérès Former title (from 1963 to 1992) - Lady Folding a Letter
Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun
Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, the favorite portraitist of Marie Antoinette, captures a fashionable young woman caught mid-correspondence in this vibrant Rococo portrait. Dressed in a shimmering yellow silk gown with a dramatic black velvet wrap and a massive, feathered blue hat, the Comtesse de Cérès pauses from her letter to offer a coy, knowing glance at the viewer. Vigée Le Brun was a trailblazer in 18th-century France, becoming one of the rare women admitted to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, and her ability to blend aristocratic elegance with a sense of lively personality shines through in every brushstroke.
Location: National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.