Madame Grand (Noël Catherine Vorlée, 1761–1835)
Madame Grand was born to a French colonial family near Pondicherry, India. As she rose to fame for her beauty and eventual marriage to the minister and diplomat Talleyrand, admirers and critics alike exoticized her origins by giving her the epithet l’Indienne. This remarkable image of her with eyes raised and lips parted as if in song was among ten portraits and three history paintings shown by Vigée Le Brun at the Salon of 1783, the same year the artist was accepted as one of only four female members of the French Royal Academy.
Artwork Details
- Title: Madame Grand (Noël Catherine Vorlée, 1761–1835)
- Artist: Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (French, Paris 1755–1842 Paris)
- Date: 1783
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: Oval, 36 1/4 x 28 1/2 in. (92.1 x 72.4 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Bequest of Edward S. Harkness, 1940
- Object Number: 50.135.2
- Curatorial Department: European Paintings
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