Portrait of Mrs. Chinnery
| Artist | Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (French, 1755–1842) |
|---|---|
| Title | Portrait of Mrs. Chinnery |
| Date | 1803 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | Overall: 36 x 28 in. (91.4 x 71.1 cm) Framed: 44 1/4 × 36 × 4 1/4 in. (112.4 × 91.4 × 10.8 cm) |
| Credit Line | Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University |
| Accession Number | 75.68 |
| This artwork is currently on view. | |
A young woman is seated, her body turned to her left with her right hand on the pages of an open book. She turns her shoulders to look directly at us with a slight smile. She is finely dressed in a red gown with gold details, a matching red headband with a gauzy veil tied beneath her chin, and two necklaces. The background is black thereby making her stand out.
Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun was renowned for her stylish portrayals of the European nobility. Before 1789, she had been court portraitist to Marie Antoinette, and following the French Revolution, she spent years traveling throughout Europe. From 1803 to 1805, Vigée Le Brun was in England, where she made the acquaintance of London society hostess Margaret Chinnery (1764–1840), and spent time at the Chinnery country estate, Gilwell Park. Here, Vigée Le Brun emphasizes Mrs. Chinnery’s interests in culture and literature, posing her with a book by the French author and educator Stéphanie Félicité, Comtesse de Genlis (1746–1830).
Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.
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"Portrait of Mrs. Chinnery | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=75.68