Tuesday, April 27, 2010

The Marie Antoinette portrait...

A friend recently sent me a copy of Courtney Love's new album release, "Nobody's Daughter" with a print of Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun's portrait of Marie Antoinette on the cover, playfully suggesting this was an 'homage to The Countess'.  That little compliment made me smile :)


Everyone who follows The Countess Bedelia sees that portrait on my Facebook page, my Twitter page, and most anywhere else I post.


I alternate it with my 'official' Countess portrait....


As a modern woman who has attained a measure of success in today's business world, I have always had an interest in women who managed to succeed in olden times that were not as conducive to a woman's success at anything other than a wife, mother, and literally someone's property.  And as a woman who has since reinvented herself in her old age as The Countess, I am fascinated at the history of other woman who have overcome odds to do the same.

Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun was such a woman.  "Now, generally regarded as the most famous woman painter of the eighteenth century, she was unappreciated for many years, not only because of her association with the unpopular ancien regime, but also due to the fact that she competed in a field largely dominated by male artists and their patrons."

"After the royal family was arrested in 1789, she was forced to flee France.  Settling in Italy she became an intrepid traveler and raised her daughter on her own."  A woman after The Countess own heart.  My grandmother was born in a chateau near Bordeaux, France, and family history states that we can trace our ancestry back to the court of Marie Antoinette.

Now this portrait of Marie Antoinette that started back in the eighteenth century has become a part of modern American culture.  I wonder how many people who purchase Courtney Love's new album will ever know the history of the portrait on the cover.  I wonder if Courtney Love even knows.
Countess Bedelia 4/27/2010 01:40:00 AM

0 Comments:

Add a comment