Madame de Pastoret and Her Son

Adélaide de Pastoret’s demure attire reflects a change in the demeanor of the aristocracy during the turbulent years of the French Revolution. Her portrait was left unfinished when she and her husband ended up on the opposite side of history from their former friend David. The painter supported the increasingly radical politician Maximilien Robespierre, while the Pastorets were Royalists, a stance that led to Adélaide’s temporary imprisonment. The painting’s incomplete state reveals how David prepared his backgrounds with animated, feathery brushwork. He also uncharacteristically deviated from his original compositional outline, adding the cradle with the newborn after the underpainting had been completed. Details like the needle with which the sitter is stitching would have been added in the final paint layer. The Pastorets refused the portrait during the artist’s lifetime, but then acquired it at his 1826 estate sale.