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Portrait of a Young Woman as a Vestal Virgin

1767
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 631

Disguise was frequently used by fashionable portraitists like Drouais. It allowed sitters to convey added layers of information about themselves through reference to myth and ancient history. Traditionally, Vestal Virgins were ancient Roman women devoted to Vesta, goddess of the hearth, alluded to here in the brazier on which offerings might be made. This guise was well suited to eighteenth-century women who were unmarried or about to marry. This unknown sitter’s gold-trimmed robe is not contemporary dress but a historicizing costume; her pose, unveiling herself, is typical of the simultaneously chaste and alluring nature of this particular disguise.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Portrait of a Young Woman as a Vestal Virgin
  • Artist: François Hubert Drouais (French, Paris 1727–1775 Paris)
  • Date: 1767
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 31 1/2 × 25 1/8 in. (80 × 63.8 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. William M. Haupt, from the collection of Mrs. James B. Haggin, 1965
  • Object Number: 65.242.2
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Madame Sophie de France (1734–1782), François Hubert Drouais French, Oil on canvas
Madame Sophie de France (1734–1782)
François Hubert Drouais
1762
Portrait of a Woman, Said to be Madame Charles Simon Favart (Marie Justine Benoîte Duronceray, 1727–1772), François Hubert Drouais French, Oil on canvas
Portrait of a Woman, Said to be Madame Charles Simon Favart (Marie Justine Benoîte Duronceray, 1727–1772)
François Hubert Drouais
1757
Marie Rinteau, called Mademoiselle de Verrières, François Hubert Drouais French, Oil on canvas
Marie Rinteau, called Mademoiselle de Verrières
François Hubert Drouais
1761
Boy with a Black Spaniel, François Hubert Drouais French, Oil on canvas
Boy with a Black Spaniel
François Hubert Drouais
ca. 1767
The Trojan Women Setting Fire to Their Fleet, Claude Lorrain (Claude Gellée) French, Oil on canvas
The Trojan Women Setting Fire to Their Fleet
Claude Lorrain (Claude Gellée)
ca. 1643

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