The Marquise de Pezay, and the Marquise de Rougé with Her Sons Alexis and Adrien
Historical Context
Vigée Le Brun's 1787 portrait of the Marquise de Pezay with the Marquise de Rougé and her sons is an ambitious group portrait that demonstrates the artist's ability to combine formal portraiture with natural, affectionate interaction. Painted two years before the Revolution that would destroy this world, the painting captures the cultivated grace of the French aristocracy at the height of the ancien régime. Vigée Le Brun's group portraits were innovative in their informal, emotionally warm compositions.
Technical Analysis
Vigée Le Brun's oil-on-canvas technique achieves luminous flesh tones and richly textured fabrics through masterful control of glazes and direct brushwork. The natural, pyramidal composition and warm palette create an atmosphere of aristocratic intimacy that distinguishes her from more rigid academic portraitists.
Provenance
One of the sitters, Victurnienne Delphine Nathalie, marquise de Rougé [1759-1828, née Rochechouart Mortemart], Paris, Château de la Bellière, Château de Beaune-la-Rolande, and Château de Moreuil; by inheritance to her son, comte Adrien Gabriel Victurnien de Rougé [1782-1838], Château de Guyencourt, Cuyencourt-sur-Noye (Somme); by inheritance to his son, comte Armel-Jean-Victurnien de Rougé [1813-1898]; by inheritance to his son, Armel-Marie-Fernand de Rougé [b. 1847], Paris and Château de Saint-Symphorien-des-Monts (Manche), until at least 1914; by inheritance to his son, comte Jean de Rougé [1880-1960], Château de Saint-Symphorien; presumably to his nephew, Charles-Edouard de Cassagnes de Beaufort de Miramon-Pesteils [b. 1930]; purchased 1960 by (Wildenstein & Co., Inc., New York); purchased 24 June 1964 by the Bay Foundation, New York; gift 1964 to NGA.
