Title: Vicomtesse de Vaudreuil

Artist: Élisabeth Louise

Title: The Vicomtesse de Vaudreuil Date: 1785 Artist: Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (French, 1755–1842) Medium: Oil on panel Description: Framed by a soft-colored landscape, Victoire-Pauline de Riquet de Caraman smiles at the viewer. Of noble lineage, she rose even further in status upon her marriage to the Vicomte de Vaudreuil, whose family moved in royal circles. Vigée Le Brun, the most important female portraitist in eighteenth-century France, emphasized her sitter’s status and refinement through her violet satin dress adorned with a linen kerchief and lace-trimmed collar and sleeves. The Vicomtesse’s hands rest on a bed of lush greenery, her right thumb marking her place in a book, as if she has been interrupted while reading.