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Madame Moitessier (1821–1897), the
daughter of a state minister, was introduced to Ingres in 1844 by Charles Marcotte,
a mutual friend. Although Ingres was busy with the duc d'Orléans's memorial
chapel, and was loath to waste his time on portraits, the artist eventually agreed
to accept the commission. Ingres would ultimately paint two portraits of Moitessier.
This one was begun in 1844, when the sitter was twenty-three years old, just two
years after she married a much older merchant who had made his fortune importing
Cuban cigars. The portrait was drawn on the canvas in 1847, abandoned in 1853,
taken up again in 1854, and finally finished by January 1857. The delay was caused
in part by the death of Ingres's wife in 1849, and also by Madame Moitessier's
second pregnancy in 1850.
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