By Emily DeCamp

 Elisabeth-Louise Vigee-Le Brun

 Le Brun was born in Paris on April 16, 1755.

 Her parents were Louis Vigee and Jean Maissin.  Her Husband’s name was Jean Babtiste.  She had one daughter named Julie. 

 She was sent to live with relatives when she was still a toddler. When she was six, her parents sent her to live at a convent where she remained for five years.  Her father died when she was 12, so when her mother re- married Jacques-Francois Le Sevre, the family moved to rue Saint-Honore close to Palais Royal.

 Le Brun was a painter that painted many portraits, including ones of herself. In 1787, she caused a minor public scandal when she painted a portrait of herself ‘smiling’, including showing her teeth. That portrait was considered ‘frowned upon’, for most famous artists back then would never paint anyone smiling.

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 She painted portraits of many famous people, including more than thirty portraits of queen Marie Antoinette and her family.  During the French Revolution, she fled the country with her daughter Julie, and lived for some years in Italy, Austria, and Russia. During that time she painted portraits of the last king of Poland, Stanislaw August Poniatowski.

Interests:  Le brun showed interest in the subject of Neoclassical painting. Neoclassical painting is a style of painting inspired by the classical period in western Europe during the 18 th century.

 Elisabeth-Louise Vigee-le Brun died on March 30, 1842 at the age of 87.  On her tombstone was carved “Ici, enfin, je repose…” (Here, at last, I rest…)

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