The Portrait of Mrs. Chinnery

A well-known French artist, Elisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun, has long been praised for her distinctive collections. She painted Mrs. Chinnery's portrait in oil on canvas in 1803. She had signed the 36 by 28-inch picture in the lower right corner. Vigée Le Brun depicts a beautiful female portrait in the artwork, reflecting the place of women in society (Vigée-Lebrun n.p.). The author explores the subconscious imagination while illuminating the position of a woman in the 19th century by using symbolic and poetic components. Vigée utilizes space in the painting as well as light and shadow to make the painting perfect. There is an evident balance between the positive and negative spaces; the artist ensured that the positive space with the woman’s body covering most of it (Goodden 2). This results in an emphasis on the object which reflects the significance of a woman during the era. The space occupied by the woman’s hands as well as the book is also significant, almost similar to the body of the woman. This space creates relevance in understanding the need for education and woman empowerment in the society. The woman that Vigée Le Brun portrays in the painting is Mrs. Chinnery, one of the most successful women in Europe in the 1800s (Goodden 3). Because of her achievement, Vigée Le Brun attempts to portray her as an example of a woman to be admired.

Vigée Le Brun has enhanced the ideology and meaning of the painting by using light; the hands and the book are more visible in the painting; this creates stronger highlights and shadow. This results in a more visible 3-dimensional imagination by viewers who considers the portrait a balanced female figure with idealized proportions. It is easier to imagine how Mrs. Chinnery was beautiful, sophisticated, and learned through the portrait (Vigée-Lebrun n.p). The use of diffused lighting on the veil and the pillow helps in creating a contrast with the strong lit face and hands.

Through the painting, it is evident that the artist utilized colors to reflect the messages she conveys to the observers. There are two variable colors of orange: dark-orange for the dress of the female figure and red-orange for the necklace and the veil. The orange color signifies charisma, communication, ambition, creativity, determination, change, and joy. Because of this, Vigée Le Brun has used the color to show how Mrs. Chinnery is a powerful woman who has achieved a lot through her determination. And as such, she seems happy, and invites other women to be empowered (Vigée-Lebrun n.p). The white color is also dominant in the painting; Vigée Le Brun the veil and the book are white. White is usually associated with safety, purity, and clarity. Vigée had in mind that sophisticated women like Mrs. Chinnery had a better life, and could do whatever they wanted without discrimination. Thus, she represented her in white to show her purity and clarity in the mind.

The symbol in the artwork is very recognizable; it expresses the whole story of the artist and her work. It is a typical painting of her work since she had always considered female figures as well as children. In the 1770s and the late 1780s, Vigée Le Brun painted various portraits of female figures in Paris and France with the most recognized being those of Marie Antionette. She had painted the queen as a mother, surrounded by her lovely children. After going to England in 1983, she painted women from the intelligentsia and aristocracy in Austria, Russia, Germany, and England, and in 1803, she made this portrait after becoming a close friend of Margaret Chinnery (Goodden 5). Her closeness with Chinnery became more apparent when she described her in one of her memoirs as “a very handsome woman whose mind has great finesse and charm.” Thus, the portrait of Mrs. Chinnery is a typical example of his artwork.

The subject of the painting is as a result of the artist’s passion towards history and human development. During the 1800s, women in most parts of the world including Europe, were still controlled by men. It was common that the female figure was ruled by the father, brothers, male relatives, and ultimately the husband who had the right over her including her body. This had been supported by both the marriage vows and the law. With the rise of feminism, women in the upper class and prestigious families distinguished themselves from others through their dressing and education status. They wore veils, laces, corsets, and gloves to ensure that their bodies were covered properly. They also began to read, write and learn about arithmetic in order to become empowered. This historical context had influenced the work of Vigée Le Brun in which she chooses to paint a portrait of Mrs. Chinnery who is one of the charismatic female figures of the time. Holding a book reveals that she is educated and her clothing shows that she is from a prestigious home.



Works Cited

Goodden, Angelica. The sweetness of life: a biography of Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun. Deutsch, 1997.

Vigée-Lebrun, Louise-Elisabeth. Souvenirs, 1755-1842. Vol. 42. Honoré Champion, 2008.