Comtesse de la Châtre (Marie Charlotte Louise Perrette Aglaé Bontemps, 1762–1848)

Vigée Le Brun's 1789 portrait of the Comtesse de la Châtre was painted on the very eve of the French Revolution that would send both artist and subject into exile. The Comtesse's aristocratic elegance and the painting's refined naturalism represent the culmination of ancien régime portraiture. Vigée Le Brun fled Paris in October 1789, beginning a twelve-year exile during which she portrayed the courts of Italy, Vienna, and Russia.

Vigée Le Brun's oil-on-canvas technique achieves the luminous skin tones and natural, unforced elegance that characterize her finest portraits. The restrained palette and flowing composition demonstrate her mastery of presenting aristocratic beauty with both naturalism and idealization.