Portrait of the Marquise d'Aguirandes

Portrait of the Marquise d'Aguirandes by François Hubert Drouais: Like many French portraitists active during the ancien régime, François-Hubert Drouais was skilled at veiling…

What to notice

In Portrait of the Marquise d'Aguirandes, start with classical, portrait, figurative. Then look closely at this museum-described detail: This portrait certainly has this quality: the face has been idealized, smoothed, and perfected, but the focus of the painting is less on the Marquise and more on her elegant gown, which is a…

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Like many French portraitists active during the ancien régime, François-Hubert Drouais was skilled at veiling the physical imperfections of his subjects. This portrait certainly has this quality: the face has been idealized, smoothed, and perfected, but the focus of the painting is less on the Marquise and more on her elegant gown, which is a particularly fine rendering of eighteenth-century printed cloth, with the brilliant gold and white fabric strewn with meticulously detailed flowers and lace.