Comtesse de la Châtre (Marie Charlotte Louise Perrette Aglaé Bontemps, 1762–1848)

This 1789 portrait shows Marie-Charlotte Bontemps, Countess de la Châtre, painted by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, one of the most sought-after portrait painters in late eighteenth-century France. The sitter is seated on a sofa, with a book in her hand and a hat beside her, dressed in white muslin, a light fabric she favoured both for everyday wear and for sittings. That preference accounts for the pale, soft tone of the figure, which stands out against a darker, more restrained background. Sources describe her as the wife of the Comte de la Châtre and later of François Arnail de Jaucourt, a detail that places the portrait early in her life. The painting belongs to the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it is displayed in Gallery 631. Like many of Vigée Le Brun's portraits, it pairs an informal pose with careful attention to fabric and light, qualities that made the painter famous.

Painter

Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun

Date

1789

Medium

oil paint, canvas

Dimensions

114 × 88 cm

Museum

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

Genre

portrait

Depicts

Marie Charlotte Louise Perrette Bontemps, couch, woman, book, ribbon, muslin, hat

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