Born to French parents in India, Catherine Worlée flaunted her wealth and beauty in the salons of revolutionary Paris while married to an Englishman named Grand. She entered into a highly visible affair with Talleyrand, the brilliant statesman (and former bishop), who had become a principal figure in the emerging government. Elaborate negotiations with Napoleon as well as with the pope were required before the couple was allowed to marry, in 1802. At her first official reception, Napoleon remarked, "I hope the conduct of Citoyenne Talleyrand will cause the fickleness of Madame Grand to be forgotten." Madame Talleyrand famously rejoined, "I would not know better than to follow the example of Citoyenne [Joséphine] Bonaparte."

After he was made a prince of the empire, Talleyrand commissioned from Gérard portraits of himself (private collection, France) and of his wife; both were completed by 1808. The portrait of Madame Talleyrand makes the most of her handsome grace at age forty-six. Remarkably well preserved, it demonstrates Gérard's extraordinary skills at the height of his career as an official portraitist.

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