Comtesse de Ségur

1785
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
The countess (1756–1828) shared in the work of her husband, a diplomat, historian, and supporter of the American War of Independence. With her lips parted in a smile, she here abandons the mask of impassivity traditionally embraced by courtiers.

This luminous, subtly painted image is in the new style Vigée Le Brun adopted after she saw Peter Paul Rubens’s Presumed Portrait of Susanne Lunden.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Comtesse de Ségur
  • Artist: Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (French, Paris 1755–1842 Paris)
  • Date: 1785
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 36 1/4 × 28 3/4 in. (92 × 73 cm)
    Frame: 48 7/16 × 40 13/16 × 3 15/16 in. (123 × 103.7 × 10 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Musée National des Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon (MV 5962)
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings