Marie Antoinette in a Blue Velvet Dress and a White Skirt

1788
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
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.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 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)
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings