For Queen and Country: Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun’s Portrait of Marie-Antoinette with Her Children

In addition to giving the family religious attributes, Vigée-Lebrun attempts to improve its image with the overall warm quality of the painting. Whereas Wertmüller's use of pale colours and dark greens convey a sense of coldness, Vigée-Lebrun conveys a feeling of physical warmth with the deep red in the dresses of both the queen and Madame Royale, the paler red in the Dauphin's uniform, and the cozy interior atmosphere of the Salon de la Paix. Emotional warmth is also present, conveyed by the two year-old Louis-Charles seated in his mother's lap, Madame Royale clutching her mother's arm while gazing adoringly at her, and the Dauphin honouring the memory of his recently deceased infant sister by directing the viewer's eye to the empty cradle at the right. This is a far contrast from Wertmüller's depiction of two children who display little to no sense of love.

To appeal to the growing Rousseauist opinions of the educated elite, Vigée-Lebrun represents the family in dressed simple clothing and posing in a relatively simple atmosphere--simple compared to the usual lifestyle of the monarchy and the nobility of the late ancien régime, that is. The queen wears the only jewellery in the painting, a pair of gold tear-drop earrings. There is no hint of any precious stones or necklaces, which would have conjured memories of the infamous "Diamond Necklace Affair" of two years earlier. Most importantly, both mother and children are represented in an interior setting, which denotes the private sphere where Rousseau and his followers would have them confined.

Despite the great pains that Vigée-Lebrun took for her queen, the portrait failed to transform public opinion. Critics of the Salon of 1787 saw at least two problems with the painting. First, they could not accept the depiction of Marie-Antoinette as mater familias and source of divine right monarchy. To many, she was a monster who had perverted this age-old idea by bearing the future king, himself a "half monster." Second, critics could not accept the demonised queen as the happy mother.(9) Such an image was incomprehensible to an audience of such deeply rooted opinions, which would help to lay the foundation for the French Revolution, an event which the royal family would not survive.

Further Reading

List of Images

For more information and a veritable catalogue raisonnée of images, I highly recommend The Art of Elisabeth-Louise Vigée-Lebrun. This site also accommodates Dutch, French, Spanish, and Italian