An artwork on Galleree from Minneapolis Institute of Art.
About the artwork
Portrait of Countess Maria Theresia Bucquoi, née Parr1793
Artist: Elisabeth Louise Vigée-Le Brun
French, 1755 - 1842
Portrait of a woman
53 1/2 x 39in. (135.9 x 99.1cm)
61 1/2 × 47 × 3 1/2 in. (156.21 × 119.38 × 8.89 cm) (outer frame)
Oil on canvas
Painting
France
18th century
The William Hood Dunwoody Fund
At just 24 years old, Élisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun was already making waves. Under the soft glow of candlelight, she set her brush to canvas and captured the regal essence of Queen Marie-Antoinette. With each stroke, she painted not just the exterior beauty of the queen but the spirit of a remarkable woman who would inspire through the ages. Vigée-LeBrun would go on to earn the title of the principal portraitist for the French aristocracy, crafting vivid images that danced with both elegance and allure.
But the world around her was changing. In the darkened corners of Paris, whispers of revolution brewed like a storm, and by that fateful night in 1789, the air crackled with tension. Revolutionaries seized the moment, arresting King Louis XVI and his queen, plunging France into chaos. In the shadows, Vigée-LeBrun saw her future flickering like a candle’s flame, and with a heavy heart, she chose to flee her beloved France, embarking on an exile that would take her across the wide expanse of Europe for twelve long years.
Among the people she met along her journey was Countess Maria Theresia Bucquoi, a woman woven into the intricate tapestry of aristocracy. The daughter of Prince Johann Joseph Paar and Countess Antonia Esterhazy, the countess was married to Count Johann Josef Bucquoi. In 1793, it was her brother, Prince Wenzel Paar, who commissioned a portrait of her, perhaps hoping to immortalize her beauty as others had done for the great figures of their time.
Once completed, this portrait found its home in the grand salon of the Prince Paar’s palace. As Vigée-LeBrun reflected on her time in Vienna, she remembered the warm hospitality of the Austrian nobility, the very place where Marie Antoinette first drew breath. In her memoirs titled "Souvenirs," the artist recounted this significant moment captured on canvas, a tangible connection between her craft and the life of a queen.
Vigée-LeBrun was not just concerned with the beauty of her subjects; she also dared to innovate. She championed simplified, classically inspired fashions for women, favoring natural, unpowdered hairstyles long before the tides of revolution swept through Europe and made such styles commonplace. In her work, she not only painted portraits but also reflected the spirit of her time, showcasing elegance that whispered of an age both extravagant and tumultuous. Through this art, she wove stories of resilience, creativity, and the relentless spirit of a woman who would not be forgotten.
About the artist
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