Giovanni Paisiello

1791

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

Paisiello (1741–1816), a famous composer and singer, plays the harpsichord with body tensed and eyes raised to the sky in a moment of inspiration—a transformation of mind that fascinated Vigée Le Brun. Visitors to the Salon of 1791 remarked on the nobility of the composition, the correctness of the drawing, and the sitter’s sublime expression. The artist and academician Jacques Louis David expressed his admiration.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Exhibition History

Title: Giovanni Paisiello
Artist: Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (French, Paris 1755–1842 Paris)
Date: 1791
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 51 9/16 × 38 3/4 in. (131 × 98.5 cm)
Frame: 64 3/4 × 52 3/8 × 6 5/16 in. (164.5 × 133 × 16 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Musée National des Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, on deposit from the Musée du Louvre (MV 5877)
Curatorial Department: European Paintings