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Self-Portrait

1790
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
In Florence, Vigée Le Brun admired the famous collection of artists’ self-portraits in the Corridoio Vasariano at the Uffizi. Asked to add her own image, she later wrote: “I painted myself with a palette in hand, in front of a canvas on which I am drawing the queen in white chalk.” Both her subject and her elegant black silk gown were intended to evoke the power and prestige of her position as a painter to the king of France. The scarlet sash adds a bold touch.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Self-Portrait
  • Artist: Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (French, Paris 1755–1842 Paris)
  • Date: 1790
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 39 3/8 × 31 7/8 in. (100 × 81 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Gallerie degli Uffizi, Corridoio Vasariano, Florence (1890, n. 1905)
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings