Masterpiece Story: Self-Portrait with Her Daughter by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun

Historical Context

Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun (1755–1842) is arguably the most important portrait painter of late 18th-century France. The quality and quantity of her œuvre place her among the greatest portrait painters of all time. She easily mixed fashionable elegance and emotional naturalism within her subjects’ images while capturing their individual personalities.

Vigée Le Brun painted over 600 portraits, including several images of herself. However, she only painted two self-portraits that included her daughter. One of these mother-daughter images, Self-Portrait with Her Daughter, Julie is considered a masterpiece and reflects the genius of her portrait style.

General Composition

Self-Portrait with Her Daughter, Julie is an oil on wood measuring 51.1 in (130 cm) high and 37 in (94 cm) wide. It is a double portrait of the artist Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun and her only daughter, Jeanne-Julie-Louise Le Brun (1780–1819). Vigée Le Brun depicts herself as a young 34-year-old mother loving her adorable 9-year-old daughter. The mother and daughter embrace affectionately while slightly smiling at the viewer.

French Revolution

Vigée Le Brun and Julie, as her daughter was nicknamed, both wear Neoclassical clothing, which was en vogue during late 18th-century and early 19th-century France. Despite this portrait being painted during the tumultuous year of 1789, the beginning of the infamous French Revolution, the painting reflects none of the country’s wider political and economic instability. Contrastingly, it presents a smaller, insular world of maternal tenderness and domestic happiness.

Artistic Education

Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun received a solid artistic education, which first began with her father, Louis Vigée (1715–1767), and then continued under fellow painters Gabriel François Doyen, Jean-Baptiste Greuze, and Joseph Vernet. As a result, Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun had an exceptionally rare support system from leading male artists. This masculine network promoted her artistic talents, eventually leading to social, professional, and financial success. Vigée Le Brun even became a regular painter of Queen Marie Antoinette, which further granted her access to French aristocratic society.

Geometric Composition

Because of Vigée Le Brun’s strong artistic education, she referenced the compositions and subjects of Old Masters in many of her portraits. Self-Portrait with Her Daughter, Julie is one such example. Vigée Le Brun echoes the motif of Madonna-and-Child paintings found in the Italian High Renaissance, especially the works of Raphael.

However, Vigée Le Brun further reduces the background to a simple pale brown like a Gothic Medieval Madonna. Furthermore, like the Gothic and Renaissance Madonnas, their embrace forms a compositional triangle—a visual shape found in countless Western group portraits.

Facial Expressions

While Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun drew some compositional inspiration from previous masters, she infused her own talent into the faces and expressions of her figures. Vigée Le Brun depicts her face as loving and protective. Her cheek tenderly rests upon the forehead of her daughter. Julie is depicted as delicate and sweet as she wraps her left arm around her mother’s neck.

Cornelia’s Jewels

Their beautifully clear and natural faces are simplistically displayed against the richly colored but unadorned fabric. Their lack of jewelry and ostentation reflects the unpretentious and modest morals of the Roman Republic. One famous Roman Patrician, Cornelia, prided herself on not investing in jewelry but investing in her sons’ education.

Later, when she was confronted by a wealthier friend about her unadorned appearance, Cornelia referred to her sons as “These are my jewels.” Could Vigée Le Brun be emulating Cornelia’s sentiment by showcasing Julie as her jewel? Such a Neoclassical reference would be appropriate to the sincere and tender emotions expressed in the portrait.

Comte d’Angiviller

Self-Portrait with Her Daughter, Julie was commissioned by Charles Claude Flahaut, Comte d’Angiviller, who was the Directeur des Bâtiments du Roi or Director of the King’s Buildings. He did not own the painting for very long, as the revolutionary government later seized it during the 10-year span of the French Revolution. While the Comte d’Angiviller had his art collection seized, Vigée Le Brun feared for her life due to her strong affiliation with the fallen French queen, Marie Antoinette, and the French aristocracy.

As a result, in 1789, at the beginning of the revolution, Vigée Le Brun fled France and moved to a safe distance in Rome, Italy. From the epicenter of Neoclassical culture, she continued to paint. Vigée Le Brun moved through many major European courts, including Saint Petersburg, Russia, where she found endless patrons for new portraits. While the artist and Self-Portrait with Her Daughter, Julie are relics of the Ancien Régime, they both survived the Revolution due to their lasting appeal of naturalism and simplicity.