,illustration3 ,cover art               
,,masterpieces   ,,in ,,colour          
,,edited ,,by --   ,t4 ,,leman ,,hare   
,,vig,e ,,le ,,brun  #agee-ahdb         
,,plate ,i4--,,marie ,,antoinette4      
,frontispiece  7,at ,versailles7  ,the  
first portrait that ,vige ,le ,brun     
painted1 in her twenty-fourth year      
7#aggi7 of ,marie ,antoinette4  ,here is
 no hint of the tragedy that was to     
overwhelm the handsome young daughter of
 ,austria2 all was as yet but gaiety and
 roses and sunshine and pleasant airs1  
and the glamour that hovers about a     
throne4  ,but there are signs of the    
imperious temper of her house1 combined 
with the levity and frivolity of manners
 which were so early to make her        
unpopular4  ,illustration3 ,plate ,i4   
,vige ,le ,brun   ,,by ,,haldane        
,,macfall    ,,illustrated ,,with       
,,eight  ,,reproductions ,,in ,,colour  
,illustration3 ,title page art          
,,london3 ,t4 ,c4  ,e4 ,c4 ,,jack  ,,new
 ,,york3 ,,frederick ,a4 ,,stokes ,,co4 

#aijg     ,,contents      ,i4 ,the      
,beginnings   ,,ii4 ,the ,wonderful     
,child  ,,iii4 ,marriage and ,motherhood
   ,,iv4 ,marie ,antoinette    ,v4      
,sweet ,exile   ,,vi4 ,the ,end         
,,list ,,of ,,illustrations   ,plate    
,i4 ,marie ,antoinette  4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 
4 4 4 4 4 4  ,frontispiece          ,at 
,versailles     ,,ii4 ,madame ,vige ,le 
,brun and ,child          ,in the       
,louvre    ,,iii4 ,madame ,vige ,le     
,brun and ,child          ,in the       
,louvre     ,,iv4 ,portrait of ,madame  
,vige ,le ,brun          ,in the        
,national ,gallery1 ,london      ,v4    
,the two elder ,children of ,marie      
,antoinette          ,at ,versailles    
,,vi4 ,portrait of ,madame ,mol-,raymond
          ,in the ,louvre    ,,vii4     
,marie ,antoinette and her ,children    
,at ,versailles   ,,viii4 ,peace        
bringing back ,plenty          ,in the  
,louvre     ,illustration3 ,vige ,le    
,brun  ,i  ,,the ,,beginnings  ,in      
,paris1 in the ,rue ,coquillire1 ,louis 

the ,fifteenth being ,king of           
,france--or rather the ,pompadour       
holding sway thereover--there lived a   
witty1 amiable fellow who plied the art 
of painting portraits in oils and       
pastels after the mediocre fashion that 
is called pleasing4 ,this ,louis ,vige  
and his wife1 ,jeanne ,maissin1 moved in
 the genial enthusiastic circle of the  
lesser artists1 passing through their   
sober day without undue excitement2 for 
fame and wealth and the prizes of life  
were not for them4  ,boucher was lord of
 art2 and ,la ,tour and ,greuze and     
,chardin were at the height of their    
genius2 but honest ,louis ,vige could   
but plod on at his pleasing portraits1  
and sigh that the gods had not borne to 
him the immortal flame4  ,yet he was to 
come near to the glory of it--nearer    
than he thought4 ',twas a pity that he  
was robbed of the splendour of basking  
in the reflected radiance1 and by a     
fish's bone4  ,it was to have its       
beginning in that year after the        

indolent but obstinate king1 having     
fallen foul of his ,parliaments in his  
game of facing-both-ways in the bitter  
strife 'twixt ,church and people1       
patched up a peace with the ,parliament 
men4    ,,plate ,,ii4--,,madame ,,vig,e 
,,le ,,brun ,,and ,,child  7,in the     
,louvre7  ,in ,vige ,le ,brun's portrait
 of herself and her child we see in full
 career the ,greek ideals that were come
 upon ,france--a ,france weary of light 
trifling with life1 and of mere         
butterfly flitting from flower to       
flower4  ,illustration3 ,plate ,,ii4    
,our worthy mediocre ,vige could        
remember the banished ,parliament       
re-entering ,paris in triumph on that   
fourth day of ,september in #aged amidst
 the exultant shouts of the people2 the 
clergy looking on with a scowl the      
while4  ,on that same day was born to   
the ,dauphin a son--the little fellow   
called the ,duke de ,berry--whom we     
shall soon see ascending the throne as  
the ill-starred ,louis the ,sixteenth1  

for the ,dauphin was to be taken before 
the old king died4  ,honest waggish     
,vige1 painting industriously at his    
pleasing portraits1 would recall it     
well2 since1 early in the following     
year1 there was that to happen under his
 own modest roof which was to bring fame
 to his name1 though he should not live 
to bask in its full glow4  ,on the #ajth
 of ,april #agee there was born to him a
 little girl-child1 whom they christened
 ,elizabeth ,louise ,vige1 or as she    
herself wrote it across the title-page  
of her ,souvenirs1 ,louise ,elizabeth   
,vige4  ,into her little fingers        
,destiny set the skill that had been    
denied to her father2 the flame was     
given to her4  ,and by the whimsy of    
things1 there was also born in far-away 
,vienna1 in this same year of #agee1 in 
the palace of the ,emperors of ,austria1
 a little princess whom they christened 
,marie ,antoinette2 who was to marry the
 little seven-month old princeling that 
lay sucking his thumb in the ,royal     

palace near by1 and thereby to become   
future ,queen of ,france4  ,like        
,franois ,boucher1 the great painter to 
the king1 ,elizabeth ,vige came to the  
pretty business with the advantage of   
being an artist's child2 like him1 she  
received her first lessons at an early  
age from her father2 and1 like him1 she 
moved from earliest childhood in an     
atmosphere of art and artists4  ,from   
her father she inherited a talent and   
taste for art1 an amiable temper1 a gift
 of wit2 from her mother1 a very        
handsome woman1 she was dowered with a  
beauty for which she was as remarkable1 
and to which her many portraits of      
herself bear abundant witness4  ,from   
very childhood she began to display the 
proofs of her inheritance--that happy   
disposition and that charm of manner    
that were to make her one of the most   
winsome personalities of her time4  ,at 
the convent to which her parents sent   
her in her tenth year she fell to       
drawing on the margins of her books1    

filling them with little                
portrait-heads--an incessant habit that 
set her teachers grumbling at her lack  
of respect towards grammar and history4 
,but to her delighted father the        
grumbles were matter for laughter2 in   
him she found an ally who was hugely    
proud to discover in his girl an        
inheritor of his gifts4  ,it is told of 
the fond father that the girl having    
taken to him one day a drawing1 ,vige   
cried out exultantly3 ,you will be a    
painter1 my girl1 or there never was    
one6  ,brought up1 as the child was1 in 
the world of artists1 with the aims and 
ambitions and enthusiasms of artists for
 her very breath1 she could not fail to 
find in such a world1 besides the       
encouragement which was prodigally      
bestowed upon so young and promising a  
talent1 the teaching needful to develop 
her powers4  ,amongst the artists who   
were on friendly terms with the girl's  
father1 and of whom ,doyen was the most 
intimate1 was ,davesne1 a member and    

deputy professor of the ,academy of ,st4
 ,luke--he who afterwards claimed to    
have taught the little ,elizabeth the   
elements of painting4  ,davesne's       
lessons were at best but few1 and seem  
to have been limited to showing the     
eager child how to set a palette4  ,the 
girl was in fact picking up the crumbs  
that fell from many tables2 at any rate 
she showed astoundingly precocious      
industry and gifts1 and was soon making 
quite a stir amongst the painter-folk1  
and becoming a source of pride to her   
father4  ,vige1 however1 was only       
destined to guide and encourage the     
child towards the path2 he died on the  
#ith of ,may #agfh from swallowing a    
fish bone4  ,little ,elizabeth was but  
thirteen years old when this first great
 grief fell upon her4  ,that was a      
strange world in which the child stood  
bewildered at the baffling cruelty of   
human destiny--this eighteenth-century  
,france4  ,the ,pompadour had died in   
the child's ninth year2 her dogged and  

persistent enemy1 the ,dauphin1 the year
 after her2 the neglected queen now     
followed the ,pompadour to the grave in 
the ,june of this same year that left   
little ,elizabeth fatherless4  ,under   
the scandals of the ,court1 and the     
tyranny and corruption of the nobility  
and clergy1 the ,french people were no  
longer concealing their distress under  
courtly phrases1 nor groaning in secret4
  ,the ideas of the new philosophers    
were penetrating and colouring public   
opinion4 ,they were beginning to talk of
 the great antique days of ,greece1 of  
heroes1 and of virtue1 and of living and
 dying like ,romans4  ,fickle fashion   
was turning her back upon the art of old
 ,boucher1 and upon ,dresden shepherds  
and shepherdesses and pleasant          
landscapes and bosky groves1 and was    
taking up her abode with heroes and     
amongst picturesque ruins4  ,the        
,parliament men were demanding rights1  
were indeed going to prison and into    
banishment for those rights2 nay1 was   

not ,choiseul the great minister of     
,france2 and ,choiseul's power was deep 
planted in the rights of the people and 
founded on ,parliaments4  ,all ,france  
was watching for the dawn of liberty4   
,,ii  ,,the ,,wonderful ,,child  ,the   
thirteen-year-old child suffered a grief
 so poignant at the loss of her father1 
to whom she had been passionately       
attached1 that it threatened to have the
 gravest consequences on her future2 had
 it not been for her father's old friend
 ,doyen1 who1 transferring to the girl  
the deep affection he had had for the   
dead man1 urged the child to take up her
 brushes again--for she was already     
painting from ,nature4  ,it was now that
 she entered the studio of ,gabriel     
,briard1 an historical painter and      
member of the ,royal ,academy2 a        
mediocre artist 7though superior to     
,davesne1 who claimed to have been her  
teacher71 but he was a fine draughtsman4
  ,to ,briard's studio she went with a  
little friend1 a year older than        

herself1 ,mademoiselle ,bocquet1 who was
 to become like herself a member of the 
,academy of ,saint ,luke2 a girl of a   
certain talent who1 however1 abandoned  
painting on her early marriage4  ,the   
two girls tripped it to ,briard's studio
 like a couple of school-children1      
demurely escorted by a servant1 who     
carried their dinner in a basket2 and1  
as they went to their daily task1 be    
sure the quick intelligent girl heard   
more than a little scandal of the       
,court--indeed all ,paris more than     
whispered of it--scandal big with       
meaning for ,france1 and for little     
,elizabeth not least of all4  ,the tears
 of the king's grief over the dead body 
of his queen were scarce dried when     
,louis the ,fifteenth still further     
degraded the dignity of the throne of   
,france--still more dangerously brought 
royalty into contempt by publicly       
acknowledging as his new mistress a     
young woman from the gutters1 the       
beautiful1 laughing1 reckless           

spendthrift ,du ,barry1 to whom one of  
the king's first gifts was              
,louveciennes1 where ,elizabeth was     
afterwards to meet her4  ,before the    
year was out ,choiseul fell2 and for the
 remaining four years that were left to 
the king ,france was governed by the    
milliner ,du ,barry and her precious    
trio1 ,d',aiguillon1 ,terray1 and       
,maupeou2 and rushed towards the abyss4 
,however1 these things troubled our     
precocious ,elizabeth but little as yet4
  ,the girl grew rapidly in             
craftsmanship and in personal beauty4   
,indeed1 she developed towards womanhood
 as early and as swiftly as in skill of 
artistry1 being remarkable for her      
prettiness1 her freshness and delicacy  
of colouring1 and her elegance of       
figure--early displaying the airy wit   
that1 with these abundant gifts of her  
fairy godmother1 were so valuable an aid
 to the reputation which she was        
achieving by her artistry at a time when
 most children are in the schoolroom4   

,her advance was so astounding that     
every one was talking about the girl2   
and the moment soon arrived when her    
master saw the pupil passing him in     
skill of hand and reputation as a       
painter2 gazing dumbfounded at the      
stream of the greatest celebrities and  
personages of the day flocking to the   
studio of a girl of but fifteen years of
 age4  ,how strange a thing the weaving 
of the web of ,destiny6  ,in this very  
same year there came out of ,austria a  
fifteen-year-old princess of its ,royal 
,house1 leaving the home of her         
forefathers in tears1 and amidst the    
tears of a people that had grown to love
 the winsome child2 for1 ,marie         
,antoinette was setting forth on her    
life's adventure as future ,queen of    
,france1 a tragic wayfaring for a       
butterfly6  ,elizabeth ,vige's          
extraordinary rise into notice brought  
her the friendship and counsel of       
,joseph ,vernet1 who gave her most      
precious advice which was a beacon to   

her career all her years3 ,my child1    
said he1 do not follow any system of    
schools4  ,consult only the works of the
 great ,italian and ,flemish masters4   
,but1 above all things1 make as many    
studies as you can from ,nature4        
,nature is the supreme master4  ,if you 
study ,nature with care it will prevent 
you from picking up any mannerisms4     
,,plate ,,iii4--,,madame ,,vig,e ,,le   
,,brun ,,and ,,child  7,in the ,louvre7 
,vige ,le ,brun painted another portrait
 of herself and her little girl-child2  
and she painted both1 fortunately for   
her fame1 when her skill was at its     
increase4  ,they stand out1 with all    
their limitations1 pure and exquisite as
 the ,madonna and ,child of ,italy's    
finest achievement2 for they were       
painted by a woman of genius with the   
passionate love of a child that is the  
wondrous heritage of woman--none the    
less religious in that it apes no show  
of religion4  ,illustration3 ,plate     
,,iii4    ,doyen and ,greuze also helped

 her with suggestions2 but she was from 
the beginning her own teacher4  ,davesne
 and ,briard only flattered themselves  
by claiming her tutoring4  ,the girl    
showed in no way any slightest sign of  
their influence4  ,ardent and           
enthusiastic in her pursuit of art1 she 
haunted the galleries and private       
collections1 but above all she went to  
,nature4  ,naturalness is by consequence
 a marked attribute of one who painted  
in this artificial age--in portraiture  
she largely escaped the conventional    
style1 both its limitations and1 be it  
also confessed1 something of that great 
beauty of style and that superb         
decorative splendour that mark the      
handsome achievement of ,nattier and    
,drouais and their fellows4  ,nor must  
it be forgotten that the realism claimed
 by the later years1 and the naturalism 
claimed for this girl's art1 were       
already to be seen in full career in the
 master-work of ,la ,tour in            
portraiture1 and in the still-life of   

,chardin4  ,this girl's genius never    
reached to the force of ,la ,tour1 nor  
the superb handling or colour-sense or  
vigour of ,chardin1 but she painted with
 rare skill the eminent women of her day
 and1 with near as remarkable a skill1  
more than one man2 her loss would have  
left a serious gap in the statement of  
the ,french genius of the end of the    
seventeen hundreds4  ,it has been a     
custom too long indulged in by literary 
critics to praise her at the expense of 
,boucher's conventionality2 but she     
never painted a portrait that surpassed 
the ,wallace ,pompadour or the ,infant  
,orleans1 to say nothing of other rare  
portraits from ,boucher's easel4  ,to   
set her up in rivalry against one of the
 greatest decorative artists of the     
years is but to give her an ugly fall4  
,the astounding part is not that she    
painted better than she did1 but that   
she achieved what she did4  ,but free   
from convention8  ,no4  ,she was a      
woman1 and a painter of women--a painter

 of women from the woman's point of view
 that desires the world only to think of
 woman in her pose as woman1 reticent1  
careful to screen the impulsive1 most of
 all the vexatious1 the violent1 and the
 irregular moods of femininity's        
temperament from the eyes of the        
passer-by2 always eager to show woman   
dressed for the part1 and well dressed4 
,she was incapable of stating the deeps 
of character2 and had she had the power1
 she would have looked upon it as       
something of an indecency--or worse1 an 
indelicacy4  ,she would1 in fact1 have  
preferred to deny the deeps4  ,she sets 
her sitter ever in the drawing-room of  
fashion1 draws a heavy curtain with a   
rattle between the drawing-room and the 
inner boudoir 7the sulking room71 slams 
the door on the bedroom1 or any hint    
that there is a bedroom1 before she     
cries come in1 to admit us to her       
studio2 she prefers to show the woman in
 her properties as the creature of      
fashion1 not in the intimacy of her     

inner living and full significance4     
,this is as much and as absolutely      
convention as any tricking out of ladies
 as ,dresden shepherdesses1 and the more
 subtle in that it is the less obvious2 
as much convention as any painting of   
large eyes or rose-bud mouths4  ,it is  
as misleading as convention4  ,but it is
 the basis of a woman's life2 and1 in   
that1 it is true4  ,boucher has been    
blamed for being conventional2 is often 
sneered at as the arch-make-believe4    
,but when he painted women he painted   
them as men really see them with their  
masks off1 and with all their allure of 
femininity4  ,this sneer of convention  
is a two-edged sword4  ,in the year that
 they found ,boucher dead1 seated at his
 easel before an unfinished canvas of   
,venus1 this girl of fifteen discovered 
herself celebrated2 saw her studio      
invaded by the flower of the world of   
fashion2 the women of the nobility at   
the ,french ,court visiting her2 the    
exclusive doors of the ,faubourg ,st4   

,germain thrown open to her2 princesses1
 duchesses1 countesses1 celebrities of  
the day and strangers of distinction her
 friends4  ,she was in close touch with 
the leading artists of her day--,le     
,moyne1 blunt ,quentin de ,la ,tour1 and
 the rest4  ,the girl1 in spite of her  
astounding industry1 was soon wholly    
unable to carry out the orders for      
portraits which rained in upon her2 her 
charm of manner and her increasing      
beauty added to the pressure of the     
siege of her admirers4  ,a little while 
before her fifteenth birthday her mother
 married again a young jeweller1 of the 
name of ,le ,svre1 a miserly fellow1    
who1 under the pretext of taking them   
into the country1 hired a little house  
at ,chaillot1 where they went with the  
girl for their ,sundays2 the thrifty    
stepfather planting its garden with the 
gay blossoms of the useful haricot-bean 
and the nasturtium4  ,he had a frugal   
mind4  ,the petty tyrannies of the      
thrifty jeweller1 his mean outlook on   

life1 and his sordid aims1 made of the  
habits and atmosphere of his class an   
even more uncongenial world for this    
brilliant girl to live in4 ,happily the 
pursuit of her art1 and the friendship  
of that circle into which that art and  
her gifts and charming personality      
raised her1 mitigated the tyranny of    
this sordid relationship4  ,and1 to add 
to her relief1 ,madame ,suzanne1 wife of
 the sculptor1 and a friend of her      
mother1 would carry off the girl with   
her into the country2 and it was during 
one of their walks at ,marly that she   
met for the first time ,marie           
,antoinette4  ,on the #ajth of ,may     
#aggd1 a month before ,elizabeth ,vige's
 nineteenth birthday1 ,king ,louis the  
,fifteenth died of the small-pox--died  
without a friend1 for he had dismissed  
the ,du ,barry in tears a short while   
before4  ,his body was hastily thrust   
into a coffin1 and hurried at the trot  
through the darkness to ,st4 ,denis1 for
 fear of attack from the sullen crowds  

that gathered to do it dishonour2 so was
 he huddled away amongst the bones of   
the ancient kings of his race1          
unattended by the ,court1 and amidst the
 curses of his people4  ,louis the      
,sixteenth1 son of ,louis ,fifteenth's  
only son1 the dead ,dauphin1 ascended   
the throne of ,france in his twentieth  
year1 a pure-minded1 honourable young   
fellow1 full of good intentions1 and    
sincerely anxious for the well-being of 
his people2 but of a diffident temper1  
timid1 hesitating1 and uncertain in     
decision1 and under the influence of his
 young consort1 the beautiful ,queen    
,marie ,antoinette1 who had the         
imperious temper of her house1 wedded to
 light and frivolous manners2 she       
brought to her counsels a deplorable    
lack of judgment and a steadfast        
incompetence in knowledge of men4  ,the 
good qualities of this young pair had   
been very well in private life2 but     
,france needed greater abilities for her
 guidance than the simple virtues4  ,it 

was a hideous part of the destiny of    
this young couple that they came to rule
 over a ,france that was passionately   
angered at the misdeeds of a king and   
his privileged class of nobles and      
clergy who had gone before them--of a   
class that had come unscathed through   
that reign1 and were grown incapable of 
realising that they could not come      
unscathed through another4  ,the ,du    
,barry flown1 and her precious trio of  
ministers with her1 ,louis recalled the 
crafty old schemer ,maurepas to power   
from the banishment into which the      
,pompadour had sent him2 but he         
otherwise began well by making ,turgot  
his minister of finance4  ,on the #beth 
of ,october in this #aggd that saw      
,louis ,quinze and ,marie ,antoinette   
come to the throne of ,france1          
,elizabeth ,vige was elected to the     
,academy of ,st4 ,luke at nineteen years
 of age4  ,she brought to her early     
successes a charming modesty and an     
utter absence of conceit or of pose that

 added greatly to her reputation1 and   
paved the way to further honours4       
,,iii  ,,marriage ,,and ,,motherhood    
,but early success was not to be without
 black care stepping into the triumphal 
car in her procession towards an early  
and wide fame of this charming and      
accomplished young woman of twenty4     
,honours were easy4 ,but the devil was  
in the machinery4  ,her family had lived
 in the ,rue de ,clry1 opposite the     
hotel ,lubert2 thence they had drifted  
to the ,rue ,st4 ,honor hard by the     
,palais ,royal2 they now returned to the
 ,rue de ,clry to the hotel ,lubert     
itself4  ,here it chanced that ,le      
,brun1 the expert1 carried on a         
lucrative traffic in pictures4  ,his    
gallery attracted the pretty artist1 who
 could study there at leisure the works 
of the great masters that passed        
through4  ,the two families soon became 
intimate4  ,le ,brun carefully weighing 
the great advantages that such a union  
could bring to him1 but entangled by his

 engagement to marry the daughter of a  
,dutch dealer in pictures who lived     
opposite to him1 and with whom he had   
considerable business in works of art1  
beat about as to how he could marry     
,elizabeth ,vige4  ,the girl was living 
in the splendour of a circle to which   
her family could not hope to aspire2 the
 picture-dealer belonged to the         
middle-class in which her own family    
moved4  ,any day she might marry out of 
that middle-class world into the world  
of fashion4  ,he saw that the girl moved
 in1 and was happiest in1 a great world 
to which he had not the key4  ,he had   
the ambition to belong to that world1   
though his common-sense might have told 
him that he never could do more than    
hang about its outer courts4  ,he was a 
calculating blackguard1 a man of loose  
life1 and a vulgar fellow with vulgar   
ambitions4  ,he saw astutely enough that
 this girl was well on the high-road to 
considerable fortune4  ,the ,dutch girl 
opposite necessitated wary walking4  ,he

 played the romantic lover1 and before  
six months were run out he was pressing 
his suit1 asking ,elizabeth ,vige to    
marry him secretly4    ,,plate          
,,iv4--,,portrait ,,of ,,madame ,,vig,e 
,,le ,,brun  7,in the ,national         
,gallery1 ,london7  ,she saw at ,anvers 
the famous ,chapeau de paille by        
,rubens4  ,this canvas by ,rubens       
clearly inspired her to the painting of 
the portrait of herself in a straw hat1 
where she stands bathed in the sunlight1
 her palette in her hand4  ,the painting
 of the flesh of the pretty face is     
exquisite1 and in spite of intense      
finish is broadly conceived and rich and
 glowing in colour4  ,the clumsy drawing
 of the hand that holds the palette is  
the only defect in this1 one of her     
masterpieces4  ,the picture has the     
added interest of revealing to us how   
,vige ,le ,brun set her palette4  ,the  
thing is thrilling with life2 and the   
little feminine conceit of wearing her  
black wrap is quaintly delightful4      

,illustration3 ,plate ,,iv4    ,the girl
 seems to have had a presentiment of the
 misery that such a marriage would mean 
for her4  ,after long and serious       
hesitation she gave her consent4  ,it   
was perhaps due to a sense of being     
between the devil and the deep sea1 for 
her sordid and miserly stepfather the   
jeweller must have been a sorry         
table-companion of her home life4  ,if  
she suspected the picture-dealer to be a
 rogue1 she thought1 likely enough1 that
 the more genial rogue would be a       
pleasanter fellow to live with than the 
other4  ,she married him secretly on the
 #aath of ,january #aggf1 on the edge of
 her twenty-first year4  ,it was not a  
wholly promising beginning1 this that   
gave her the name that she was to       
immortalise--,vige ,le ,brun4  ,it was a
 sorry match4  ,it began in secrecy2 she
 was to discover that it was founded on 
a treachery4  ,when the marriage was    
discovered it was too late to dissuade  
the girl from it2 she had to listen to  

some plain home-truths as a ,dutchman   
saw them1 and to grim prophecies of the 
evil that would come of the business4   
,but he might have spared his breath4   
,she was to have her ugly awakening4    
,she early discovered that ,le ,brun was
 a gambler1 a rake1 and a thoroughly    
dissolute and unscrupulous rogue4  ,it  
was not long before he had not only     
squandered his own fortune1 but was     
playing ducks and drakes with every     
penny that she gained by her art and her
 untiring industry4  ,she was soon to   
become a mother2 the love that she had  
sedately allowed to go out to her       
disreputable and pretentious husband1   
and which she had early withdrawn in    
tatters1 she now lavished upon this1 her
 girl-child4  ,meanwhile1 her reputation
 increased by leaps and bounds4  ,her   
studio was simply besieged by the       
,quality4  ,the ,duchess of ,orleans had
 to wait her turn a whole year before   
she could be painted4  ,vige ,le ,brun's
 praise was in every mouth4  ,she was   

sung in prose and verse2 the poetasters 
ran to much doggerel of handsome intent1
 as was the fashion of the day4         
,marquises and the rest of the          
scribbling folk tripped over halting    
feet to sing her charms and immortalise 
her art4  ,l'orgueil de ,france rhymed  
it to la double puissance2 and immortal 
crayon to admiration4  ,they spilled the
 rosy inks4  ,le ,brun1 not the         
picture-dealing husband1 but the        
poetical fellow who modestly nicknamed  
himself the ,pindar of his age1 plucked 
at the lyre with both hands in her      
honour4  ,nay1 have we not the written  
record that ,laharpe1 uttering his      
rhymed discourse on the genius of women 
to a great gathering of the bloods and  
wits at the ,academy1 and bursting into 
violent poesies in announcing that      
,elizabeth1 the modern ,rosalba1 but    
more brilliant than she1 weds the voice 
of ,favart with the smiles of a         
,venus--every one rose to their feet1   
not omitting the ,duchess of ,chartres  

and the ,king of ,sweden1 and turning to
 the blushing ,elizabeth1 applauded her 
with transports6  ,so much for ,france  
within the walls of the ,royal ,academy4
  ,but ,france without6  ,the great     
minister1 ,turgot1 baffled by the       
selfishness of the privileged classes1  
fell4  ,but ,louis called to power near 
as good a man1 worthy banker ,neckar4   
,in an unfortunate hour for the ,royal  
house1 and against the will of the king1
 be it credited1 and to the bewilderment
 of ,neckar1 the nation having gone mad 
with enthusiasm over the prospect of an 
alliance with ,britain's revolted       
,american colonies1 war was declared    
against ,england1 ,france undertaking   
not to conclude peace until the colonies
 were free4  ,the success of the        
revolted colonies made the ,revolution  
in ,france a certainty4  ,the fall of   
,neckar and the setting up of the       
reckless and incompetent ,calonne over  
the destinies of ,france brought the    
shout of the ,democracy to the gardens  

of the king4  ,vige ,le ,brun's picture 
of the dandified man certainly does not 
show him a leader of great enterprises4 
,his reckless extravagance satisfied the
 nobles2 it brought bankruptcy stalking 
to the doors of the king's palace4  ,the
 distress and sufferings of the people  
became unbearable4  ,the miserable      
scandal of the diamond necklace added to
 the discredit of the queen4  ,the      
,royal family and the ,court sank       
further in the people's respect4  ,as   
for ,vige ,le ,brun1 she was come into  
her kingdom4  ,and it is during those   
twenty years1 from shortly after her    
marriage until she was forty1 that her  
best and most brilliant portraiture     
belongs1 before the hardness and dryness
 of her later style showed signs of the 
decay of her powers4    ,,plate         
,v4--,,the ,,two ,,elder ,,children ,,of
 ,,marie ,,antoinette--,,the ,,first    
,,dauphin 7born #agha1 died #aghi7 ,,and
 ,,the ,,madame ,,royale  7,at          
,versailles7  ,the little ,dauphin of   

four years1 and his seven-year-old      
sister1 the ,madame ,royale1 seated on a
 bank1 the boy's hat thrown at his feet 
upon the flower-strewn ground--a work in
 which ,vige ,le ,brun's colour-sense1  
her fine arrangement1 and her feeling   
for style reach to their highest flight4
  ,the handsome boy was mercifully taken
 at the dawn of the ,revolution2 the    
girl was to know all its terrors4       
,illustration3 ,plate ,v4    ,to its    
earliest1 freshest years belongs the    
first portrait that ,vige ,le ,brun     
painted1 in her twenty-fourth year      
7#aggi7 of ,marie ,antoinette1 in which 
the young queen is seen with a large    
basket1 and dressed in a satin gown1    
holding a rose in her hand--painted the 
year after the birth of her eldest      
child1 the ,madame ,royale4  ,here is no
 hint of the tragedy that was to        
overwhelm the handsome young daughter of
 ,austria2 all was as yet but gaiety and
 roses and sunshine and pleasant airs   
and the glamour that hovers about a     

throne4  ,but there are signs of the    
imperious temper of her house1 combined 
with the levity and frivolity of        
manners1 which were so early to make her
 unpopular4  ,vige ,le ,brun was to     
paint her royal mistress close on thirty
 times during the next ten years1 until 
the prison doors shut upon the ,royal   
house of ,france2 and there grew up     
between the two women a subtle and      
charming friendship that was to make the
 talented woman a dogged and convinced  
royalist to her dying day--indeed1 the  
temperament of women needs small incense
 towards the worshipping of idols4      
,vige ,le ,brun was rarely more happy in
 her art than in several of the many    
portraits she painted of herself about  
this time--more particularly the two    
famous pictures of herself with her     
little daughter4  ,the ,marie           
,antoinette with the ,rose is redolent  
still of the eighteenth-century         
,france--the sicle ,louis ,quinze4  ,in 
,vige ,le ,brun's portrait of herself   

and her child we see in full career the 
,greek ideals that were come upon       
,france--a ,france weary of light       
trifling with life1 and of mere         
butterfly flitting from flower to       
flower2 here is that crying back to the 
antique spirit that was leavening the   
middle-class of ,france which was about 
to claim dominion over the land and to  
step to the foot of the throne and usurp
 the sceptre and diadem of her ancient  
line of kings as the ,third ,estate2 and
 to come to power with violent upheaval1
 wading to the throne through blood and 
terror4  ,here we see ,vige ,le ,brun1  
royalist1 glorifying motherhood1 her    
arms and shoulders bare in chaste       
nudity1 her body scantily attired in the
 simple purity of ,greek robes1 her     
child in her embrace4  ,vige ,le ,brun  
painted another portrait of herself and 
her little girl-child2 and she painted  
both1 fortunately for her fame1 when her
 skill was at its increase4  ,they stand
 out1 with all their limitations1 pure  

and exquisite as the ,madonna and ,child
 of ,italy's finest achievement2 for    
they were painted by a woman of genius  
with the passionate love of a child that
 is the wondrous heritage of woman2 none
 the less religious in that it apes no  
show of religion4  ,we see the age of   
free thought stating the innate religion
 of free thought2 as ,renaissance ,italy
 painted paganism in religious disguise 
with the innate irreligion of its day4  
,in all her portraiture one is struck by
 the fact that ,vige ,le ,brun took much
 pains to arrange the draperies in what 
she considered picturesque fashion      
rather than that she painted the        
ordinary gowns of her day as her sitters
 wore them on entering her studio4  ,and
 we have her own word for it in her     
,souvenirs 7wherein the careful record  
of each picture that she painted may be 
found7 that the dress of most women of  
the time seemed ugly to her--as it does 
to so many artists1 generally not the   
best1 in all times--indeed1 she used    

every ounce of tact that she possessed  
in order to arrange the draperies4  ,she
 sternly set her face against the use of
 powder and paint that the fashion of   
her century put upon complexions even of
 the most delicate beauties2 and she    
always1 when she could1 arranged the    
hair of the women sitters4  ,she tells1 
not without pride1 how1 having persuaded
 the beautiful ,duchess of              
,grammont-,caderousse to put off paint  
and powder1 and to allow her to arrange 
her jet-black hair1 drawing it down over
 the forehead and separating it over the
 brow and arranging it in irregular     
little curls1 the duchess went to the   
theatre as she was1 and created the     
fashion thereby1 in spite of the fact   
that ,vige ,le ,brun could never        
persuade the queen to give in to her1   
,marie ,antoinette replying to all her  
beguilings3 ,i shall be the last to     
follow the fashion2 ,i do not wish them 
to say that ,i am trying to hide my huge
 forehead4  ,marie ,antoinette was      

beginning to realise that all ,france   
did not fawn upon her with the          
courtier's bended shoulder or pretty    
speech4     ,,iv  ,,marie ,,antoinette  
,in her twenty-seventh year 7#aghb7     
,vige ,le ,brun made a journey into     
,flanders with her husband1 who had gone
 thither picture-dealing4  ,the works of
 the ,flemish masters that she there saw
 had a marked effect upon the increase  
of her art4  ,she saw at ,anvers the    
famous ,chapeau de paille by ,rubens2   
and had revealed to her the beauties of 
a sun-flooded figure1 with the face     
painted in the golden glow of reflected 
lights under the shadow flung down over 
it by a large hat4  ,this canvas by     
,rubens clearly inspired her to the     
painting of the portrait of herself in a
 straw hat1 where she stands bathed in  
the sunlight1 her palette in her hand4  
,the painting of the flesh of the pretty
 face is exquisite1 and in spite of     
intense finish is broadly conceived and 
rich and glowing in colour4 ,the clumsy 

drawing of the hand that holds the      
palette is the only defect in this1 one 
of her masterpieces4  ,the picture has  
the added interest of revealing to us   
how ,vige ,le ,brun set her palette4    
,the thing is thrilling with life2 and  
the little feminine conceit of wearing  
her black wrap is quaintly delightful4  
,thenceforth her art has an added sense 
of style1 a fuller statement of         
atmosphere2 in her handling of paint and
 employment of colour she was soon to   
reach the very height of her            
achievement4  ,it was shortly after her 
return from this journey into ,flanders 
that ,joseph ,vernet decided to put down
 her name for election to the ,royal    
,academy4  ,her portrait of herself     
created such a sensation that her       
election became assured4  ,she had to   
paint the usual formal tableau de       
reception1 and chose ,allegory1 painting
 her ,la ,paix ramenant l',abondance1   
which1 though a somewhat stilted affair 
such as ,academies demand1 is full of   

charm--and is still to be seen at the   
,louvre4  ,she was received into the    
,academy on the last day of ,may in     
#aghc in her twenty-eighth year1 and    
thenceforward had the valuable privilege
 of the right to show at the ,salon4    
,vige ,le ,brun had not reached to such 
rapid and wide success1 in spite of all 
her charm and youth and the defence that
 chivalry should grant to her sex1      
without setting jealous tongues wagging4
  ,the ,peace bringing back ,abundance  
happened to be hung under a canvas by   
,mnageot1 ,the ,birth of the ,dauphin2  
and comparisons between the two pictures
 were aimed at creating a slander which 
there were only too many ready to       
believe2 for it was supported by certain
 facts which fell into place1 and took  
on a suspicious air when pointed to as  
supporting evidence4  ,this ,mnageot1   
who afterwards became ,director of the  
,academy at ,rome1 lived in the same    
house as ,vige ,le ,brun2 and rumour    
soon got agog to the effect that he was 

in the habit of painting1 or at any rate
 putting the finishing touches to1 her  
work1 ,pierre1 at this time first       
painter to the king1 had employed this  
slander in order to oppose her election 
to the ,academy2 he was the leading     
spirit of a cabal against her1 as soon  
became known2 for he was the victim soon
 afterwards of a satirical jingle that  
went the round of the studios4  ,she was
 harassed also by the petty spites of   
enemies who did not hesitate to try and 
have her studio seized under the charge 
that she was painting without legal     
title since she had never been          
apprenticed to a painter4  ,and         
malignant tongues whispered it abroad   
that she never would have been elected  
to the ,academy had it not been done at 
the command of the ,court4  ,they made  
her very friendship with the queen a    
whip with which to lash at her4  ,she   
was now painting many portraits of the  
queen4  ,vige ,le ,brun spent her entire
 day at her easel1 from the time she    

arose in the morning1 and she rose      
early1 until the daylight went4  ,she   
gave up dining in the town1 in order not
 to be drawn away from her work2 and the
 temptation must have been strong for a 
young and charming woman so greatly in  
request4  ,but at nightfall she went out
 to social functions1 and herself       
received the most brilliant and         
distinguished members of society and art
 and letters at her own house1 giving   
concerts where ,grtry1 whose portrait   
she painted1 and other celebrated       
musicians played portions of their      
operas before they were seen or heard   
upon the stage2 whilst the grandees of  
the old noblesse and the famous wits    
frequented her house4  ,again1 the      
report of her receptions got noised     
abroad2 and envious tongues were soon   
exaggerating the extravagance and luxury
 in which she lived1 descending to such 
childish tittle-tattle as that she lit  
her fires with bank-notes1 that the     
number of her guests was so great and so

 distinguished that1 for lack of seats1 
the marshals of ,france had to sit upon 
the floor2 gossip and babble that were  
to cost her dearer than she thought1    
though she laughed it all away with a   
shrug of her pretty shoulders at the    
time4  ,it was concerning one of her    
six-o'clock suppers that a slander was  
started which was to be a serious menace
 to her in after years4    ,,plate      
,,vi4--,,portrait ,,of ,,madame         
,,mol-,,raymond  7,in the ,louvre7      
,this famous painting of ,madame        
,mol-,raymond1 the pretty actress of the
 ,comdie ,franaise1 is one of ,vige ,le 
,brun's masterpieces4  ,her brush is now
 at its most dexterous use2 the laughing
 pretty woman is caught like a live     
thing and fixed upon the canvas as at a 
stroke as she trips across the vision1  
with muff upraised1 smiling out upon us 
as she passes4  ,vige ,le ,brun never   
stated character with more consummate   
skill than here2 never set down action  
with more vivid brush1 catching movement

 flying4  ,illustration3 ,plate ,,vi4   
,it was an age of small oratory4  ,every
 man who could string a neat sentence   
together1 scribbled or harangued4  ,it  
was boorish and an unfashionable thing  
not to be an author1 a poetaster1 a     
little orator1 a critic1 a dabbler in   
the arts4  ,at coffee-houses or clubs1  
wheresoever men foregathered1 some      
fellow would mount a table and harangue 
his friends4  ,the bloods caught the    
vogue1 little foreseeing that it made a 
hotbed for the airing of discontents1   
and for the parading of ideals which    
alone could blot out those discontents4 
,all took to it like ducks to the       
village pond4  ,there was much quackery2
 some honest noise4  ,now it so chanced 
that at ,vige ,le ,brun's there was a   
gathering at which ,le ,brun--,pindar   
,le ,brun the poet--spouting a          
discourse1 described a ,greek supper4   
,the idea at once sprang up that they   
should have one straightway2 they got up
 the cook and started to set the thing  

going1 the poet guiding the making of   
the sauces4  ,amidst the general        
merriment ,vige ,le ,brun suggested that
 they should dress for the fantastic    
affair in ,greek costume1 and arrange   
the tables and seats after the antique  
fashion4  ,so the jocular business went 
apace4  ,it was a merry party of        
,athenians that sat down to the         
feast--,pindar ,le ,brun wearing laurels
 in his ridiculous hair1 and a purple   
mantle round about him2 the ,marquis de 
,cubires tricked out with a guitar as a 
golden lyre2 ,vige ,le ,brun being chief
 costumier to the frolic1 draping       
,chaudet the sculptor and others in as  
near ,greek fashion as could be4 ,vige  
,le ,brun1 herself in white robes and   
tunic1 and garlanded with flowers and   
veiled1 seems to have presided over a   
rollicking gathering4 ,the noise of the 
jollification got abroad4  ,the banquet 
cost the frugal ,vige ,le ,brun some    
fifteen francs in all2 but in the mouths
 of the spiteful the tale of its        

extravagance quickly grew4  ,a few days 
afterwards there was talk of it at      
,court2 and the king was solemnly       
assured by one who knew1 that it had    
cost #bj1jjj francs4  ,this unfortunate 
,greek supper dogged her steps in the   
wanderings over the face of ,europe that
 were to be her long exile4  ,at ,rome  
she was to discover that it had cost her
 #dj1jjj francs2 at ,vienna it was to   
rise to #fj1jjj2 and when she reached   
,st4 ,petersburg she was to find that1  
gathering volume on the long journey1 it
 had increased to #hj1jjj francs1 when  
she scotched the lie and killed it2 but 
not before it had served her a very ugly
 turn4  ,the truth was that she was     
being made to share the unpopularity    
that had fallen upon the queen4  ,she   
was painting1 and was on friendly terms 
with1 not only the ,royal ,family1 but  
with the unpopular ministers and        
servants of the crown1 and with the     
noblesse1 who in league with the queen  
were chiefly concerned in keeping the   

king from popular measures4 ,she        
painted1 according to the authorities1  
in #aghe1 in her thirtieth year1 the    
portrait of ,calonne though a parchment 
in the engraving from it bears the date 
#aghg4  ,the portrait of the minister   
set slander going against the artist1 as
 regards the vast sum paid for it4  ,the
 portrait of the seated minister ends   
below the knees2 and it was of this     
picture of the weak ,calonne1 who clung 
so limpet-like to office1 that ,sophie  
,arnould1 seeing it at the ,salon1 made 
the neat remark3 ,it is because he      
sticks to office that ,madame ,le ,brun 
has cut off his legs4  ,but whether she 
received much or little mattered not    
much to ,vige ,le ,brun2 her husband    
seized and squandered all she earned4   
,as a matter of fact1 she received #cfjj
 francs for the portrait from ,calonne1 
sent in a handsome box worth #abjj      
francs--a couple of hundred pounds at   
the outside4  ,it was a small price     
compared to the sums she was now        

receiving for portraits2 ,beaujou1 the  
financier1 paid #hjjj francs 7say #cjj  
guineas72 ,prince ,lubomirski #bj1jjj   
francs 7#hjj7--not that the poor maker  
of these works gained thereby1 for her  
precious picture-dealer husband had it  
according to his habit1 and she had     
difficulty and a scene even to get two  
louis from the price when she asked the 
rogue for it4  ,however1 her reputation 
ever increased4  ,she showed at this    
same ,salon of #aghe1 in her thirtieth  
year1 the portrait of the little        
,dauphin of four years and his          
seven-year-old sister1 the ,madame      
,royale1 seated on a bank1 the boy's hat
 thrown at his feet upon the            
flower-strewn ground--a work in which   
her colour-sense1 her fine arrangement1 
and her feeling for style reach to their
 highest flight4 ,it is perhaps the most
 wholly successful and most complete and
 masterly canvas of her long career4    
,it hangs in ,versailles1 a pathetic    
comment1 this happy moment in the       

children's life1 when the days looked   
rosy and all the world was a beautiful  
garden4  ,at the ,salon of #aghg1 in her
 thirty-second year1 is record of a     
picture of ,marie ,antoinette and her   
,children2 and of herself with her girl2
 and1 amongst others1 those of          
,mademoiselle ,dugazon and of ,madame   
,mol-,raymond4  ,this famous painting of
 ,madame ,mol-,raymond1 the pretty      
actress of the ,comdie ,franaise1 is one
 of ,vige ,le ,brun's masterpieces4     
,her brush is now at its most dexterous 
use2 the laughing pretty woman is caught
 like a live thing and fixed upon the   
canvas as at a stroke as she trips      
across the vision1 with muff upraised1  
smiling out upon us as she passes4      
,vige ,le ,brun never stated character  
with more consummate skill than here2   
never set down action with more vivid   
brush1 catching movement flying2 she    
never stated life more truly nor with   
more exquisite tact than in this bright 
vision of a dainty woman of the theatre4

  ,affairs in ,france were now in such a
 huddle that the ,state could not pay   
interest on the public loans4  ,calonne 
could no longer disguise the serious    
business from himself or the king4      
,there was nothing for it but to call   
the ,assembly of ,notables4  ,they met  
at ,versailles on the #bbnd of ,february
 #aghg4  ,calonne fell1 to give place to
 his enemy the turbulent and stupid     
,cardinal de ,brienne4  ,the ,court was 
completely foul of the people when ,de  
,brienne threw up office in the midst of
 riots in ,paris and throughout the     
country1 and1 in panic1 fled to ,italy1 
leaving the ,government in dire         
confusion and distress4  ,the king took 
a wise course2 he recalled ,neckar4     
,the convoking of the ,states-,general  
now became a certainty4  ,paris rang    
with the hoarse cry for the ,third      
,estate4  ,the wrangle as to the        
constitution of the ,states-,general    
became every day more dangerous4  ,the  
last portrait that ,vige ,le ,brun      

painted of the doomed queen was the     
canvas that hangs at ,versailles known  
as ,marie ,antoinette and her ,children1
 in which the queen is seen seated      
beside a cradle with the baby ,duke of  
,normandy on her knee1 the little       
,madame ,royale at her side1 and the    
small ,dauphin pointing into the cradle4
  ,when the doors of the ,salon of #aghh
 were thrown open the painting was not  
quite finished2 and for some days the   
frame reserved for it remained empty4   
,it was on the eve of what was to become
 the ,revolution1 and the country was   
speaking now in no hushed whispers of   
the public deficit in the nation's      
treasury1 and gazing bewildered at the  
bankruptcy that threatened the land4    
,the empty frame drew forth the bitter  
jest3 ,voil le dficit6  ,the little     
,dauphin's pointing at the cradle was   
not to be without its significance--for 
the little fellow was to die at the     
outbreak of the ,revolution and his     
place was to be taken by the babe on his

 mother's knee--the small ,duke of      
,normandy was to become ,dauphin in his 
place1 and1 in some few years1 with his 
little sister1 was to be made a close   
prisoner in the ,temple4  ,the king and 
the queen1 separated from their children
 and each other1 were to go out to the  
guillotine2 the girl was to live through
 the seething hell of the ,terror as by 
a miracle1 and thereafter unhappily     
enough as the ,duchess of ,angoulme2 but
 the fair boy1 heir to one of the       
noblest heritages in all this vast      
world1 torn from ,marie ,antoinette     
whilst the queen still lived1 a         
prisoner1 was to be handed to the tender
 mercies of the infamous ,simon1 jailor 
at the ,temple1 who was to train the    
frightened child to drink and swear and 
sing with piping treble the camagnole1  
until1 hidden away in a tower of the    
prison1 he was to die like a frightened 
hunted thing1 his shirt not changed for 
months--die in darkness and squalor and 
in a filthy state4  ,the guillotine did 

no mightier act of simple godlike       
vengeance than the day it sheared the   
skull from the foul neck of cordwainer  
,simon4  ,marie ,antoinette1 in this the
 thirtieth portrait that ,vige ,le ,brun
 painted of her1 is no longer the mere  
careless1 gorgeous butterfly of some ten
 years ago when the little more than    
girl-artist first limned her features in
 the ,marie ,antoinette with a ,rose4   
,the ten years that have passed are     
ending in solemn seriousness for the    
thirty-third birthday of the ,french    
,queen4  ,the future is a threat4  ,the 
people are demanding rule by            
,parliament--are singing for it--writing
 broadsheets claiming it4  ,it was about
 this time of stress and strain and     
anxiety at ,court that1 in #aghh1       
,berger engraved so superbly one of     
,vige ,le ,brun's greatest portraits1   
the consummately painted                
character-study1 and exquisitely dainty 
colour-harmony of the ,marchioness de   
,sabran4  ,the elections to the         

,states-,general took place amidst      
indescribable excitement throughout all 
,france4  ,the winter which went before 
the meeting of the ,states-,general was 
terribly severe2 it came on top of a bad
 harvest2 the price of bread rose to    
famine pitch4  ,neckar generously       
sacrificed a vast part of his private   
fortune to buy food for the             
hunger-stricken poor of ,paris4  ,it was
 in national gloom that the             
,states-,general met at ,versailles on  
the #eth of ,may in #aghi4  ,that day   
sounded the knell of the ,monarchy4     
,,plate ,,vii4-,,marie ,,antoinette     
,,and ,,her ,,children  7,at            
,versailles7  ,the last portrait that   
,vige ,le ,brun painted of the doomed   
queen was the canvas that hangs at      
,versailles known as ,marie ,antoinette 
and her ,children1 in which the queen is
 seen seated beside a cradle with the   
baby ,duke of ,normandy on her knee1 the
 little ,madame ,royale at her side1 and
 the small ,dauphin pointing into the   

cradle4  ,when the doors of the ,salon  
of #aghh were thrown open the painting  
was not quite finished2 and for some    
days the frame reserved for it remained 
empty4 ,it was on the eve of what was to
 become the ,revolution1 and the country
 was speaking now in no hushed whispers 
of the public deficit in the nation's   
treasury1 and gazing bewildered at the  
bankruptcy that threatened the land4    
,the empty frame drew forth the bitter  
jest3 ,voil1 le dficit6  ,illustration3 
,plate ,,vii4    ,in little over a month
 the ,states-,general was become the    
self-constituted ,national ,assembly2 a 
few days later1 on the #bjth of ,june1  
the deputies took the solemn oath in the
 tennis-court--the jeu de paume4  ,at   
the queen's foolish urging the king fell
 back on force2 filled ,paris with      
troops under ,de ,broglie2 dismissed    
,neckar4  ,the people at once took to   
arms4  ,the #adth of ,july saw the fall 
of the hated ,bastille4  ,on the #bbnd  
the people hanged ,foulon to the        

street-lamp at the corner of the ,place 
de ,grve--and thenceforth the terrible  
shout  la lanterne6 became the cry of   
fashion4  ,such was the dawn of the     
,revolution in the streets of ,paris1   
upon which ,vige ,le ,brun's eyes gazed 
down terrified in her thirty-fourth     
year4  ,quickly followed the rumblings  
of the dark thunder-clouds that came up 
in threatening blackness behind the     
dawn--and which were about to burst with
 a roar upon reckless ,paris4  ,the king
 showed astounding courage and          
considerable capacity during these awful
 days2 but his work was constantly      
thwarted and ruined by the ,court party 
and the queen4  ,on the #crd of ,october
 the officers of the regiment of        
,flanders were foolishly entertained at 
,versailles1 and the whole ,court being 
present1 the white cockade of the       
,bourbons was distributed amidst        
rapturous approval1 and the national    
tricolour trodden under foot4  ,the     
starving rabble of ,paris knew it1 by   

the next day2 and headed by a band of   
frantic women1 set out for ,versailles  
on the morning of the #eth of ,october1 
under the leadership of the ruffian     
,maillard who had distinguished himself 
at the capture of the ,bastille4 ,they  
overran the palace4  ,the king again    
showed superb nerve2 and the mob1       
abashed and admiring1 calling ,long live
 the king6 withdrew to the courtyards4  
,the unfortunate brawl in the courtyard 
followed2 and the mishap of the night4  
,the next day the ,royal ,family had to 
make their humiliating journey with the 
rabble to ,paris4  ,small hope for ,vige
 ,le ,brun1 unless she stole out of     
,france1 and at once4  ,she stood1      
indeed1 in perilous plight4  ,her       
relations with the ,court1 and with the 
nobility1 made every hour that she      
stayed in ,paris a greater danger to her
 life4  ,it was dangerous to go into the
 streets--dangerous to leave ,paris--but
 for ,vige ,le ,brun more dangerous to  
stay4  ,she was a marked woman4  ,there 

was for her one sole way from death1 and
 it was flight4  ,by delaying she risked
 also the life of her child4  ,her      
friends begged her to be gone4  ,she    
took the girl2 searched hurriedly for   
all the money she could lay hands       
on--her husband had taken all but eighty
 francs 7some three guineas7--and1      
leaving her canvases where they stood   
unfinished1 she passed out of the studio
 that had been all the world to her2 the
 place where she had spent the happiest 
hours of her life4  ,a few days before1 
she had had to refuse to begin a        
portrait of the future ,duchess de      
,noailles--to save her own head1 not to 
paint those of others1 was now become   
her single aim4  ,on the #eth of        
,october of this year of #aghi1 that    
fearsome day that saw the rabble        
marching to ,versailles1 ,vige ,le ,brun
 took her seat in a diligence with her  
little girl1 seated between a thief and 
a jacobin2 the diligence rattled along  
the cobbles of her beloved city1 and out

 of the gates--in such fashion ,vige ,le
 ,brun left ,paris and took the road for
 ,italy4     ,v  ,,sweet ,,exile  ,as   
she rattled out of ,paris between her   
grim companions1 ,vige ,le ,brun little 
thought that her exile would last a     
dozen years2 but everywhere she went she
 was destined to be welcomed with       
honour2 and wheresoever she roamed--and 
she ranged across the face of the land  
wellnigh from end to end of it--she was 
to receive the same ovations1 meet with 
the same success1 be rewarded with the  
highest honours4  ,she went amongst     
strangers with but eighty francs in her 
purse out of all the fortune she had    
made by her dogged industry2 she was to 
find in exile1 not only a gracious home1
 but at last an immunity from the       
shameless squandering of her earnings by
 the disreputable thief whom she had    
married4  ,at ,turin1 her first         
halting-place1 she tarried but a short  
while4  ,she found that her name and    
fame had gone before her4  ,at ,bologna 

no ,french citizen was allowed to stay  
for more than twenty-four hours2 but for
 ,vige ,le ,brun permission was brought 
without her asking for it4  ,she spent  
three days gazing at the masterpieces of
 the ,bologna ,school2 and was made a   
member of its ,academy4  ,at ,florence  
she was asked to paint her portrait for 
the celebrated collection of portraits  
of famous artists by their own hand at  
the ,uffizi ,gallery4  ,at ,rome the    
same impressive welcome awaited her4    
,here she was soon at work again1 with  
palette and brushes1 upon the portrait  
of herself1 which she had promised to   
the ,gallery at ,florence1 where it now 
hangs--one of the most exquisite heads  
she ever painted1 sunny1 smiling1 happy1
 with youth come back to it4  ,after    
eight months in ,rome she moved on to   
,naples4  ,here it was that she painted 
the portrait of ,lady ,hamilton1        
,nelson's ,emma1 reclining by the sea1  
holding a cup in her hand as a          
,bacchante4  ,vige ,le ,brun also       

painted her as a ,sibyl--that picture   
which she took with her wherever she    
went1 from town to town1 and which      
always drew a crowd to her studio2      
whilst1 grimly enough1 ,nelson's ,emma  
rose to be one of the famed lovers of   
romance1 to sink into want1 and so to   
death in loneliness and misery at       
,calais4  ,it was at ,naples1 too1 that 
,vige ,le ,brun painted that portrait of
 ,paisiello which she sent to ,paris to 
the ,salon1 where it was hung as pendant
 to a portrait by ,david1 and led to his
 high tribute to her genius1 when1 after
 gazing upon it for a long while1 he    
said to his pupils3 ,they will think    
that my canvas was painted by a woman1  
and the portrait of ,paisiello by a man4
  ,vige ,le ,brun was now painting      
without cease4  ,the ,queen of ,naples1 
her two elder daughters1 and the ,prince
 ,royal1 all sat to her4  ,during the   
first year of her exile the news from   
,france had not been greatly alarming1  
and danger seemed to have been lulled4  

,but at ,naples she was to hear tidings 
that caused her bitter grief4  ,first   
,neckar1 finding himself out of touch   
with the king and the people and the    
,parliament1 retired to ,switzerland4   
,then1 unfortunately for the king1      
,mirabeau died in the ,april of #agia4  
,the king thenceforth resolved on       
escape4  ,the ,royal ,family made their 
ill-starred flight to ,varennes2 to be  
brought back to ,paris as prisoners4    
,the constitutional party in the        
,legislative ,assembly1 at first        
dominant1 soon became subordinate to the
 more violent ,girondists1 with their   
extreme wing of ,jacobins under         
,robespierre and of ,cordeliers under   
,danton1 ,marat1 ,camille ,desmoulins1  
and ,fabre d',eglantine4  ,the          
,proscription of all emigrants quickly  
followed--and the name of ,vige ,le     
,brun was written upon the lists4  ,the 
queen's enmity to ,lafayette baulked1   
and completed the ruin of1 the ,royalist
 hopes4  ,he retired into exile1 and    

sadly left the ,royal cause to its fate4
  ,on the #bjth of ,april #agib ,france 
entered upon her supreme struggle with  
,europe by declaring war4  ,on the night
 of the #ith of ,august the dread tocsin
 sounded the note of doom to the ,royal 
cause--herald to the bloodshed of the   
#ajth of ,august4  ,three days          
afterwards the king and the ,royal      
,family were prisoners in the ,temple4  
,there followed the terrible ,september 
massacres4  ,the ,national ,convention  
met for the first time on the #bast of  
,september #agib2 decreed the first year
 of the ,republic2 abolished royalty and
 titles of courtesy2 decreed citoyen and
 citoyenne in their place1 and tu and   
toi for vous4  ,it also proved the      
enmity of the two wings of the now      
all-powerful ,girondist party--the      
,girondists proper as against the       
,jacobins or ,montagnards4  ,the        
conflict began with the fierce quarrel  
as to whether the king could be tried4  
,it was with sorrow at her heart that   

the exiled artist left ,italy and       
journeyed into ,austria4  ,having spent 
three years in ,italy1 roaming from town
 to town1 and being received with honour
 wherever she went1 she turned her      
footsteps to ,vienna1 where she remained
 from #agib to #agie1 her thirty-seventh
 to her fortieth years1 again to be     
idolised1 and painting hard the while4  
,to paint and to live are the same word 
to me1 she was wont to say4    ,,plate  
,,viii4--,,peace ,,bringing ,,back      
,,plenty  7,in the ,louvre7  ,it was    
shortly after her return from this      
journey into ,flanders that ,joseph     
,vernet decided to put down her name for
 election to the ,royal ,academy4  ,her 
portrait of herself created such a      
sensation that her election became      
assured4  ,she had to paint the usual   
formal tableau de reception1 and chose  
,allegory1 painting her ,la ,paix       
ramenant l',abondance1 which1 though a  
somewhat stilted affair such as         
,academies demand1 is full of charm--and

 is still to be seen at the ,louvre4    
,illustration3 ,plate ,,viii4    ,but   
these years in ,vienna must have gnawed 
at ,vige ,le ,brun's heart like a       
fearful disease4  ,in her ,france her   
much-loved ,marie ,antoinette was going 
through terrible days4  ,the king was   
being tried for his life1 and ,louis    
,capet knew that he was a condemned man 
before he faced his accusers with the   
rare dignity and courage that keep his  
memory green4  ,he was condemned to     
death1--,orleans1 ,philip ,egalit1      
voting with the majority amidst a murmur
 of universal horror even amongst the   
men who condemned the king4  ,louis'    
head fell to the guillotine on the #ajth
 of ,january #agic4  ,war with ,europe  
followed2 and the deadly struggle       
between the ,girondists and ,jacobins   
for supreme power4  ,the #bgth of ,may  
saw the appointment of the terrible     
,secret ,committee of ,public ,safety4  
,by ,june the ,girondists had fallen4   
,charlotte ,corday's stabbing ,marat in 

his bath left the way clear to          
,robespierre's ambition4  ,the ,jacobins
 in power1 the year of the ,reign of    
,terror set in--from ,july #agic to     
,july #agid1 with ,robespierre as lord  
of the hellish turmoil4  ,the famous    
,loi des suspects soon filled the       
prisons with some two hundred thousand  
miserable prisoners4  ,the scaffold     
reeked with blood4  ,during the year of 
the ,terror the guillotine sheared the  
heads from fourteen hundred victims4    
,the unfortunate queen1 ,marie          
,antoinette1 whose hair had gone white  
in a night1 was tried as the widow      
,capet1 going to the guillotine with    
majestic serenity on the #afth of       
,october #agic4  ,the ,girondist        
deputies followed2 also the despicable  
,egalit ,orleans1 who went to his doom  
as the dandy he was1 blotting out his   
many sins in a final dignity4 ,amongst  
the many batches came the miserable ,du 
,barry1 shrieking with terror1 to her   
awful death1 which she had brought upon 

herself by foolishly advertising a      
reward for a robbery from her house of  
,louveciennes4  ,then came strife       
amongst the ,jacobins themselves4       
,danton and ,robespierre fought the     
bloodthirsty villain ,hbert for life1   
and overthrew him2 the ,hbertists went  
to the guillotine like the curs they    
were4  ,danton1 with his appeals for    
cessation of the ,terror1 alone now     
stood between ,robespierre and supreme  
power2 ,danton1 ,camille ,desmoulins1   
d',eglantine1 and their fellows went to 
the guillotine4  ,but other as able and 
resolute men had determined that        
,robespierre and his ,terror must end2  
,robespierre went to the guillotine4    
,the ,revolution of the ,ninth          
,thermidor put an end to the ,terror in 
,july #agid4  ,it was whilst at ,vienna1
 in her thirty-ninth year1 on the #crd  
of ,june #agid1 during the ,terror1 that
 ,vige ,le ,brun took out her act of    
divorce4  ,and it was in this year that 
citizen ,le ,brun published in ,paris   

his ,prcis historique de la vie de la   
citoyenne ,le ,brun1 peintre6  ,in her  
fortieth year ,vige ,le ,brun went from 
,vienna to ,prague2 and1 getting roaming
 again1 passed through ,dresden to      
,berlin and on to ,st4 ,petersburg1     
where she arrived in the ,july of this  
same year of #agie4  ,her welcome in    
,st4 ,petersburg must have been very    
sweet to the wandering exile4  ,on the  
morrow of her arrival the ,empress      
,catherine had her presented4  ,she     
found at ,st4 ,petersburg many of her   
old friends1 fled from the ,revolution4 
,to her all ,europe became a second     
country2 but ,st4 ,petersburg her second
 home4  ,here1 in fact1 were larger     
numbers of those that had meant ,paris  
to her than she could now have found in 
,paris itself4  ,she was besides a      
spoiled child of the ,court4  ,her life 
at ,st4 ,petersburg was a very busy one4
  ,she settled down at once to the      
industrious practice of that art that   
was breath and life and holiday to      

her--working from morning until         
nightfall1 and happy in it all4  ,she   
painted something like forty-eight      
portraits in ,st4 ,petersburg4  ,the    
,empress ,catherine1 now an old woman1  
was to have sat to her1 and had         
appointed the day and hour1 but her     
to-day at eight was not to be2 apoplexy 
struck down her good-will2 she was found
 dead in her room4  ,the six years in   
,st4 ,petersburg were amongst the       
happiest years of the artist's life1 and
 the richest for her fortunes4  ,her    
reception into the ,academy of ,st4     
,petersburg was almost a ,state triumph4
  ,meanwhile1 the armies of ,france were
 winning the respect of the world by    
their gallantry and skill in war4  ,the 
#bcrd of ,september #agie saw ,france   
ruled by the ,directory4  ,the #eth of  
,october1 the ,day of the ,sections1 led
 to ,napoleon ,bonaparte's employment as
 second in command of the army--the     
young general was soon                  
commander-in-chief4  ,and ,france       

thenceforth advanced1 with all the      
genius of her race to that splendid and 
astounding recovery of her fortunes and 
to that greatness which became the      
wonder of the world4  ,the ,revolution  
of the #ahth and #aith of ,brumaire     
7#ith and #ajth ,november #agii7 ended  
the ,directory and set the people's     
idol1 ,napoleon ,bonaparte1 at the helm 
of her mighty ,state as ,first ,consul4 
,there was now little need--indeed there
 had not been for some time any         
need--for ,vige ,le ,brun to remain an  
exile2 but1 as a matter of fact1 exile  
she had found to be so sweet a thing1 so
 magnificent and perpetual a triumph1 so
 delightful an existence1 that ,paris   
had early ceased to call her4  ,her     
experience with her rascally husband    
scarcely beckoned her back to her old   
home2 she was now sole mistress of her  
considerable earnings4  ,besides1 the   
,paris of her delight had been the      
,paris of ,marie                        
,antoinette--aristocratic ,paris4       

,where was that ,paris to be found8     
,the personages and the atmosphere and  
the palaces and homes of all that ,paris
 meant to her were gone into thin air--a
 sad memory4 ,during her exile her      
mother had died2 her last link with     
,paris died with her4  ,she probably    
rarely gave the city of her youth's     
delight a thought1 and likely enough    
never would have given it another       
serious one1 had not destiny now struck 
her a blow which she bitterly resented2 
but which she should have foreseen to be
 as inevitable as death4  ,her daughter 
betrothed herself to1 and married1 a    
,russian1 ,m4 ,nigris1 secretary to the 
,count ,czernicheff4  ,vige ,le ,brun   
had been sorely tempted to oppose the   
match1 for she foresaw that the girl    
would find no happiness in the union4   
,she had poured out upon her child all  
the passionate love that had been so    
miserably thwarted in her own marriage4 
,it had been more than bitterness to her
 to note that whilst her love for her   

girl increased1 the girl's love for her 
seemed to dwindle4  ,it was the         
bitterest blow that ,vige ,le ,brun had 
ever known2 and she had been struck more
 than once4  ,it turned the wanderer's  
eyes homewards to her wrecked ,paris4   
,russia was no longer a delight to her4 
,she became restless4  ,the wander-fever
 came upon her2 she got roaming2 she    
went to ,moscow for five or six months2 
but she could not settle--she decided to
 leave ,russia4  ,the people amongst    
whom she had lived so long showed their 
affection1 and personally appealed to   
her to make her home amongst them4  ,the
 grandees went to her and told her of   
the sorrow that the news of her going   
had brought to them4  ,the ,emperor     
,alexander the ,first1 himself1 begged  
her not to leave them4  ,she fenced all 
their kindnesses by promising to return 
soon4  ,but during the forty years that 
remained to her she never set foot again
 in her second home4  ,in her           
forty-sixth year ,vige ,le ,brun left   

,russia1 and turned her face towards    
,paris2 she crossed the border into     
,germany and halted a short while in    
,berlin to paint a few portraits1 and in
 order to go to ,potsdam to paint the   
,queen of ,prussia4  ,on leaving ,berlin
 she narrowly escaped losing her        
diamonds and gold1 a servant of the inn 
making an attempt to force open the     
baggage that contained them4  ,from     
,berlin she roamed to ,dresden1 where   
she seems to have hesitated1 reluctant  
to bend her steps towards ,paris1 yet   
torn with desire to go4  ,as she came   
nearer to ,france her desire to return  
conflicted with her horror at the       
memories which the tragedy and wreckage 
of the ,terror raised like ghouls in her
 imagination--every well-loved spot     
would now bear witness to her of the    
ghastly crimes that had swept away her  
old friends1 their once masters and     
mistresses4     ,,vi  ,,the ,,end  ,at  
last1 the year after ,napoleon1 with    
great pomp1 took up his official        

residence as ,first ,consul at the      
palace of the ,tuileries1 ,vige ,le     
,brun set foot on ,french soil after    
twelve years splendid exile1 carrying   
with her a considerable fortune4  ,the  
egregious ,le ,brun seems to have been  
reconciled1 for he took a leading part  
in her reception4 ,as she stepped out of
 the carriage she found herself in the  
arms of her brother and his wife1 amidst
 tears of joy--with ,le ,brun in        
attendance4  ,in her home1 which was gay
 with flowers1 everything else was      
exactly as she had left it1 except that 
above her bed was a crown of golden     
stars set there by citizen ,le ,brun4   
,the long-suffering ,vige ,le ,brun was 
deeply touched2 but could not forget    
that the unconscious wag had made her   
pay dearly for the golden stars4        
,concerts and ovations greeted the      
returned exile2 but it was all a strange
 world4  ,a few old friends--and the    
rest1 kindly strangers4  ,she grew      
restless1 and in six months was setting 

out for ,london4  ,here she found       
herself amongst hosts of old friends2   
and the doors of the great1 as          
everywhere1 thrown open to her4  ,she   
painted ,george the ,fourth and ,byron  
amongst many others4  ,the rage for     
portraits by her kept her in ,england   
for three years2 and it was her fiftieth
 year 7#ahje7 before she returned by way
 of ,holland and ,belgium into ,france4 
,but in the midst of the great sea of   
adventure that swept ,france along under
 ,napoleon she seems never to have got  
her bearings4  ,she roamed to           
,switzerland twice1 and painted some two
 hundred pastel landscapes of its       
scenery4  ,it was during her first visit
 thereto that she met and painted       
,madame de ,stal as ,corinne4  ,the     
years were increasing1 the fever for    
travel cooled1 and ,vige ,le ,brun1     
buying a house at ,louveciennes1        
thenceforth passed her days between her 
country-house and town-mansion4  ,death 
began to make gaps amongst such old     

friendships as the guillotine had spared
 to her4  ,le ,brun died in #ahac2 her  
daughter in #ahai2 her brother the      
following year4  ,her art began to fail 
her4  ,but her closing years were       
illumined by the affection and care of  
her two nieces1 ,madame de ,rivire and  
,madame ,trippier le ,franc4  ,at five  
of the morning of the #cjth of ,march in
 #ahdb1 she died in her apartment at    
,no4  #bi ,rue ,st4  ,lazare1 in her    
eighty-seventh year2 and was buried     
according to her wish at ,louveciennes1 
where1 in the church1 still hangs the   
picture of ,ste4  ,genevieve painted by 
her4  ,even her poor dead body could not
 sleep where she had willed2 she was    
destined to gentle exile even after     
death4  ,her remains were moved to the  
new cemetery1 and the simple tomb was   
again set up over them1 whereon one may 
see a palette and brushes chiselled at  
its summit1 and the grim words3 ,here1  
at last1 ,i rest4     ,,printed ,,in    
,,great ,,britain4        ,,in ,,the    

,,same ,,series    ,,artist4            
,,author4    ,,velazquez4               
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4   ,,reynolds4       
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4   ,,turner4         
,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4   ,,romney4         
,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4   ,,greuze4         
,,alys ,,eyre ,,macklin4   ,,botticelli4
                ,,henry ,b4 ,,binns4    
,,rossetti4                  ,,lucien   
,,pissarro4   ,,bellini4                
,,george ,,hay4   ,,fra ,,angelico4     
,,james ,,mason4   ,,rembrandt4         
,,josef ,,israels4   ,,leighton4        
,a4 ,,lys ,,baldry4   ,,raphael4        
,,paul ,g4 ,,konody4   ,,holman ,,hunt4 
,,mary ,e4 ,,coleridge4   ,,titian4     
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4   ,,carlo ,,dolci4  
,,george ,,hay4   ,,luini4              
,,james ,,mason4   ,,tintoretto4        
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4    ,others in       
,preparation4