Portrait of Mme D'Aguesseau

Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun painted this Portrait of Mme D'Aguesseau around 1770, demonstrating the elegant style that would make her the favorite portrait painter of Marie Antoinette. The work shows an aristocratic woman with the soft features, delicate coloring, and refined pose typical of Rococo portraiture.

Vigée Le Brun (1755-1842) was one of the most celebrated women painters in European history. Her artistic style combined the remnants of Rococo elegance with emerging Neoclassical elements. She created a name for herself in Ancien Régime society, and her portraits of aristocratic women captured both their beauty and status with notable sensitivity.

The painting measures 91.5 x 72.4 cm and resides at the National Museum of Art of Romania in Bucharest. Vigée Le Brun fled France during the Revolution and traveled throughout Europe, painting royalty and aristocrats in Italy, Austria, and Russia. Her portraits of women remain among the finest examples of late 18th-century French painting.