The Collection
The American Wing Ancient Near Eastern Art Arms and Armor The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing Asian Art The Cloisters The Costume Institute Drawings and Prints Egyptian Art European Paintings European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Greek and Roman Art Islamic Art Robert Lehman Collection The Libraries Medieval Art Musical Instruments Photographs Antonio Ratti Textile Center Modern and Contemporary Art

Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.

Marie Antoinette in a Blue Velvet Dress and a White Skirt

Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun French

1788

Not on view

After completing her famous 1787 portrait of Marie Antoinette and her children, Vigée Le Brun painted this work, doubtless without a sitting and probably on her own initiative. She believed that there would be requests for other images of the queen but in the end she did not sell this canvas for many years. The face and pose of Marie Antoinette in the two compositions are almost identical, but here she has aged and she communicates a degree of regal severity.

Marie Antoinette in a Blue Velvet Dress and a White Skirt, Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (French, Paris 1755–1842 Paris), Oil on canvas — Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: Marie Antoinette in a Blue Velvet Dress and a White Skirt

Artist: Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (French, Paris 1755–1842 Paris)

Date: 1788

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 106 5/8 in. × 76 3/4 in. (271 × 195 cm)
Frame: 9 ft. 8 15/16 in. × 87 3/8 in. × 4 3/4 in. (297 × 222 × 12 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Musée National des Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon (MV 2097)

Accession Number: SL.1.2016.52.5

The Met

European Paintings at The Met

The Met's celebrated European Paintings collection encompasses more than 2,500 works of art from the thirteenth through the early twentieth century.