October 2025, by Elmgreen & Dragset

 

Several artists portrayed Queen Marie Antoinette, but it was Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun who had the opportunity to paint many of them, becoming her favorite artist. Vigée Le Brun describes her in her memoirs as follows: "Marie Antoinette was tall, with an admirable figure, rather plump, but not too much so. Her arms were superb, her hands small and perfectly formed, her feet were charming […]. Her features were not regular; she inherited the long and narrow oval fase peculiar to her Austrian nationality. Her eyes were rather small, their colour was nearly blue; her expression was intelligent and gentle. Her nose was small and pretty, and her mouth was not too big […]. But the most remarkable thing about her fase was the brilliance of her complexion."

Queen Marie Antoinette in court dress, by Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (after 1785, later version of 1778)

Marie Antoinette with a Rose, by Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (1783)

The Rose Portrait is perhaps the most famous of all. Here we see a 27-year-old Marie Antoinette wearing a light blue satin dress with a bow. The fabric of the dress demonstrates that the Queen supported the textile industry of the time, and the artist's skill is evident in the reflections and luminous glimmers of the silk.

Although Vigée Le Brun was the official portraitist during her life at the French court, the first of all the portraits was commissioned from François-Hubert Drouais in 1773, while she was still living in Austria. The intention of this work, which was sent to the French court, was to demonstrate that Marie Antoinette had the potential to be a future queen. The young woman was 17 years old at the time, dressed formally, and wearing a diamond choker, this jewel being one of the few items permitted upon entering France.

It was common for palace walls to be covered with portraits of the family, and for this reason, royal houses portrayed their members in various situations. For example, with their descendants, who would be the future representatives of the crown. They were also depicted in everyday scenes, such as this one showing the Queen in her role as a mother with two of her children, Marie-Thérèse (7 years old) and Louis Joseph (4 years old), in the gardens of the Trianon, demonstrating her maternal love. Paradoxically, in the following portrait, they are placed in front of this building, which had acquired romantic rather than maternal connotations. The artist in this case was Eugène Battaille, and he based his painting on an earlier one by Adolf-Ulrik Wertmüller from 1785. The Queen's attire is a Turkish-style robe accompanied by sumptuous jewelry.

Queen Marie Antoinette with her two children in the Trianon gardens, by Eugène Battaille after Adolf-Ulrik Wertmülle (1868, after 1785)

But as we know, by 1791 the King and Queen had been imprisoned and executed. A court condemned Marie Antoinette, and she was guillotined on October 16, 1793, at the age of 37. One of the images of the Queen while imprisoned in the Concergerie is by Alexandre Kucharsky, painted in 1793, just weeks before her death, and later recreated by other artists. It depicts the Queen seated in her cell, dressed in black in honor of her husband's passing, with commemorative items including a bust of Louis XVI and a portrait of her deceased son around her neck.

Marie Antoinette in her cell at the Concierge, by John Murphy, after Anne Flore Millet, marquise de Bréhan,after Alexandre Kucharsky (1795)

An outstanding exhibition, very attractive to the general public, which confirms the museum's quality in collecting data such as paintings.