Madame Grand (Noel Catherine Vorlee)
Madame Grand (Noël Catherine Vorlée, 1761 – 1835) c1783 by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (1755 – 1842); known for her work in the Rococo and Neoclassical styles, and best known for her fashionable portraits
This is a portrait of Noël Catherine Vorlée who was born to a French colonial family near Pondicherry, India; and who was the mistress of French diplomat Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, the first Prime Minister of France whom she would later marry in 1802; when Napoleon Bonaparte pressed Talleyrand to marry her.
From the time of her marriage she was known as Catherine Noël Grand de Talleyrand-Périgord, Princesse de Bénévent; becoming a Princess when Talleyrand was made Prince of Benevento (a city and comune of Campania, Italy) in 1806.
The painting shows her seated in a very large arm chair with with green velor padding, with her right forearm resting on a large green velor pillow while holding sheet music in her right hand, with her left forearm resting on her lap.
The is wearing a silver colored silk dress which is low and wide cut at the chest, with a large blue ribbon tied into a bow at the front, with a matching colored ribbon tied into a bow on the top of her head flowing down the back of her head.
This is a remastered digital art old masters reproduction of a public domain image that is available as a canvas print online.
Info Below Derived From Wikipedia.org
Elisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun who was also known as Madame Le Brun was born in Paris France on April 16, 1755 to French Portraitist and Fan Painter Louis Vigée (1715 – 1767) and hairdresser Jeanne (née Maissin) (1728 – 1800).
She also had a younger brother Louis-Jean-Baptiste-Étienne Vigée (1758 – 1820) who was a noted French playwright and a man of letters.
At around the age of 13 Élisabeth was engaging with the noted painters of her time, which included French Painters Gabriel François Doyen (1726 – 1806), Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725 – 1805), and Joseph Vernet (1714 – 1789); gaining much from the advice they gave her as to her painting, and in her early teens began painting portraits professionally.
Then the studio she had established was seized fro practicing without a license, so she then applied to the Académie de Saint-Luc; which unwittingly exhibited her artwork in their salon, and in 1774 she was made a member of the Académie.
In 1776 she married Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Le Brun, a painter and art dealer, and began showing her artwork at their home in Paris, the Hôtel de Lubert, and the Salons.
As Elisabeth career blossomed she was granted patronage by Queen Marie Antoinette (1755 – 1793); for whom she painted over 30 portraits of the queen and her family, which led to the misconception that she was the official portraitist of Marie Antoinette.
On May 31, 1783, Elisabeth was made a member of the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture; and was one of only 15 women to be granted full membership in the Académie between 1648 and 1793, along with her rival, Adélaïde Labille-Guiard.
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