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Beyond the Surface: Labille-Guiard's Celebration of the Mind

© Jessica Cresseveur

Last month, I presented just a few of many proposed reasons for (self-) portraiture of women painters.(1) This month, I wish to expand upon the subject by focusing on a portrait of an amateur woman artist of the old French aristocracy: Adélaïde Labille-Guiard's Portrait of Madame Adélaïde of France (1787).

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This portrait sets itself apart from past and contemporary portraits of women in several ways. In this article, I intend to discuss these differences and their significance. Additionally, I intend to explore (even if briefly) possible reasons as to why this portrait is so different from its contemporaries.

The portraits discussed in last month's article feature young, attractive women. Many European portraits produced during the time from the Italian Renaissance until the mid- to late nineteenth century also depict young, attractive women, although not for the purposes that I outlined last month. In most cases, the beauty of the sitters is idealised. Furthermore, they are often adorned in expensive clothing and/or jewelry. Interestingly, such portraits were often commissioned by the sitters' husbands or fathers. The purpose was not to celebrate the sitters as individuals, but rather as prizes and reflections of men's wealth and power. Any objects that accompany the sitters symbolise their marital fidelity, fertility, modesty, and/or status as property. They were often depicted as seated half-length figures, as if signifying their confinement to the home. One final aspect of so many traditional portraits of women is the averted gaze. The sitters fail to return the gaze of the viewer-whether their eyes are directed elsewhere or whether their heads are turned in a different direction. This may be a sign of modesty, chastity, or a refusal to look beyond the private sphere.

By contrast, the portrait of Madame Adélaïde aims to celebrate the sitter as an individual. First, the sitter's father, Louis XV, had died several years before the portrait was produced. Second, she had never married. The absence of both a father and a husband prevented her from being depicted as a reflection of a wealthy, powerful man. Rather, she is depicted as a standing, full-length figure, free to go where she pleases. Although she wears expensive clothing marking her as an aristocrat, she is not completely idealised. Instead, she appears as handsome, yet not beautiful. At the time this portrait was produced, Madame Adélaïde was 55 years old, which was considered elderly in her time. The only hint of idealisation is in her face, which appears comparatively smooth in the portrait. However, in reality, her face was pockmarked as a result of a bout with smallpox earlier in her life.

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