Portrait of Comtesse Marie-Henriette Doullé de Bonneval

Girodet's portrait of Comtesse Marie-Henriette Doullé de Bonneval from around 1800 belongs to the elite social portraiture that provided the financial foundation for his more ambitious artistic projects. The Comtesse represents the reconstituted aristocracy and upper bourgeoisie that was emerging in the Consulate period from the disruptions of the Revolution, and her portrait served the social function of asserting recovered dignity and cultural refinement. Girodet's female portraits combined the neoclassical formal conventions he had absorbed from David with a sensitivity to the specific qualities of individual feminine physiognomy and character that distinguished his best work from more mechanical approaches. The work demonstrates his sustained ability to serve the social needs of elite patronage while pursuing his more ambitious artistic aims.

The portrait is rendered with Girodet's characteristic smooth, polished technique and luminous flesh tones. The sitter's elegant costume and poised expression are captured with the refined precision of the Neoclassical tradition.