Marie Antoinette with a Rose

Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun painted this elegant portrait in 1783, six years before the French Revolution and ten years before the queen's execution. Marie Antoinette stands in a blue-grey silk dress, wearing a large bow and rich pearl jewelry, delicately holding a rose, a symbol of her Habsburg birth.

This version replaced an earlier controversial portrait. Vigée Le Brun had first painted the queen in a simple muslin dress, her favorite casual wear at the Petit Trianon. Salon visitors were outraged: in their view, the queen appeared in her underwear. The painting was quickly withdrawn, and Vigée Le Brun painted this more appropriately regal replacement within weeks.

As official court painter, Vigée Le Brun produced thirty portraits of Marie Antoinette over six years. The queen enjoyed sitting for her friend and received her in private apartments. When the Revolution came, Vigée Le Brun fled France with her daughter. The portrait remains at the Palace of Versailles, where several replicas were made for European courts.