2015 frame conservation, after treatment
Before 1982 conservation
Before 1982 conservation in raking light
Before 1982 conservation in UV light
Before 1982 conservation, back of painting
Elisabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun
French, 1755–1842
Bacchante
1785
Crowned with a wreath of grapes and vines, this smiling woman with flushed cheeks represents a bacchante—a follower of the wine god Bacchus. Though Vigée-Lebrun was a successful portraitist, this work was probably not intended as an image of a particular individual. Instead, the mythological theme allowed the artist to paint an openly erotic image and demonstrate her skill capturing lively facial expressions.
| Medium | oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 34 1/2 × 29 3/8 × 4 1/2 in. (87.6 × 74.6 × 11.4 cm) Stretcher: 28 7/8 × 23 3/8 in. (73.3 × 59.4 cm) |
| Object Number | 1955.954 |
| Acquisition | Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955 |
| Status | On View |
Image Caption
Elisabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun, Bacchante, 1785, oil on canvas. Clark Art Institute, 1955.954
Select Bibliography
Melissa Percival. "The Expressive Heads of Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun," in Gazette des Beaux-Arts. November 2001:pp. 203-216.
Hartford (CT): Wadsworth Atheneum.. Exhibition of 43 Portraits.. Jan. 26-Feb. 10, 1937..
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Exhibit Seven: The Regency and Louis XVI Rooms. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1957.
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Exhibit Four & Exhibit Seven. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1958.
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas.. Elizabeth Louise Vigée LeBrun. June 5-Aug. 15, 1982. Cat. by Joseph Baillio.
Mainardi, Particia. The Persistence of Classicism. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1995.
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1970.
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1972.
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1984.
Simon Schama.. Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution.. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.. 1989..
Simon Schama.. Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution, paperback ed.. New York: Random House.. 1989..
Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992.
Held, Julius S. "Old Masters in the Clark Collection, Part I: Paintings." The Magazine Antiques 62, no. 4 (October 1997): 504–9.
Goodden, Angelica. The Sweetness of Life: A Biography of Elisabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun. London: André Deutsch. 1997.
Schama, Simon. Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution. Vol. I. London: The Folio Society. 2004:p. 215 fig. 60.
Auricchio, Laura. Adélaïde Labille-Guiard: Artist in the Age of Revolution. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2009.
