Souvenirs of Madame Vigée Le Brun

by Louise-Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun

Overview

The most accomplished female painter of her age, Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun (1755–1842) is best remembered for her many portraits of Queen Marie Antoinette of France. Her two-volume autobiography was published in France in 1835–7, and this English version (of which the translator is unknown) in 1879. It begins with a series of ten letters to a Russian friend, Princess Kourakin, describing her family and early life, her artistic training, and her rise to the position of portraitist to the queen. The letters end with the Revolution and Vigée-Lebrun's flight abroad: the 'souvenirs' which follow describe her years of exile and her eventual return to France. Throughout her life, she supported herself and her family by her painting. Volume 1 ends with her staying in Austria, after a tour of the cities of Italy, during which she studied art as well as participating in the life of high society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781108080750
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/12/2015
Series:	Cambridge Library Collection - Art and Architecture
Pages:	334
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.75(d)

Table of Contents

Part I: 1. My childhood; 2. Death of my father; 3. My walks; 4. My marriage; 5. The queen; 6. Voyage to Flanders; 7. The Greek supper; 8. Le Kain; 9. Chantilly; 10. The duc de Nivernais; 11. Romainville; 12. 1789; Part II: 1. Turin; 2. Rome; 3. Portraits done in Rome; 4. Piazza of St Peter's; 5. I leave for Naples; 6. The Baron Talleyrand; 7. I return to Rome; 8. I leave Rome; 9. Venice; 10. Turin; 11. The comtesse de Thoun and her soirées; 12. Portraits I took in Vienna; 13. Huitzing.