Hood Museum of Art

Captured Beauty

by Elizabeth Chiu

        

     When you look at her hands they look like she hasn’t worked a day in her life. Looking at the painting from corner to corner a moment of her life is captured. This portrait called Vicomtesse de Vaudreuil an oil painting is displayed in the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College. The lady in the portrait is Victoire-Pauline de Riquet de Carama. She was an aristocrat married to Jean-Louis, Vicomte de Vaudreuil. The elegance of the lady is shown by using diverse textures ranging from the bunching of her dress to her pale silky smooth skin. With a poised posture she holds her book and sits on the ground with nature surrounding her. The artist not only captures her beauty but also her personality and story. 

            This magnificent portrait is by Elisabeth-Louise Vigee Le Brun. She paints exquisite portraits of royalty and aristocrats. Her work has a combination of sensuality and refinement. As young girl her father encouraged her to paint, and she took lessons from Gabriel Briard. When she was a teenager her work started to attract wealthy buyers. Later on in her life she was accepted into Academie de Saint-Luc and her portraits got the French aristocracy’s attention. Marie Antoinette loved her work so much that she had thirty portraits of herself painted. With the help of Marie Antoinette, Elizabeth went on to the Academie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture. Only a few female artists were accepted into this prestigious professional association. However, once the French Revolution started she had to flee Paris. She traveled to Russia, Austria, and Italy. After twelve years of traveling she settled down in London.

            The artist captures the contours of the ladies jaw line and her skinny pointed nose. She also highlights the bridge of her noise and her cheekbones. The woman’s right cheek is hit with a soft ray of light. Her eyes become two precious jewels. Her porcelain skin contrasts against the scenery filled with deeper shades of greens and blues. She sits on the ground in her rich indigo gown, with one of her thumbs marking a page in a book. She comes off as a sophisticated and educated aristocrat. Her hair frames her face with the light brown pigmentation starting to fade to grey. Her lips are sealed as if she has nothing to say. The artist portrays her as casually reading a book as her hat tries to shade what youthfulness she has left. Overall the artist captured Victoire-Pauline de Riquet de Carama personality, lifestyle and beauty.