Working with Queen Marie-Antoinette

     Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun was well known in the art world, despite her lack of recognition by the Académie. She even caught the attention of the French royal family. In 1778, Vigée Le Brun was commissioned to paint her first portrait of Queen Marie-Antoinette.

     Right away, the two women developed a close friendship. The Queen appreciated how Vigée Le Brun captured modesty, vulnerability, and gentleness in her portraits, which was drastically different to the impersonal, austere figure Marie-Antoinette was typically depicted as. Vigée Le Brun did this by dressing the Queen in a white, muslin dress instead of the Queen's formal hoop skirts and powdered face. 

     Vigée Le Brun's relationship with the Queen opened up many doors for the artist. First, Marie-Antoinette recommended Vigée Le Brun to the Académie, and the portraitist was finally accepted because of the Queen's power and influence. Second, the Queen introduced Vigée Le Brun to other aristocrats, and the artist was frequently commissioned by them for their own personal portraiture.