European Painting and Sculpture

ADÉLAÏDE LABILLE-GUIARD
(French, 1749-1803)

Portrait of Madame Adélaïde of France, about 1787
Oil on canvas
Gift of Mrs. Berry V. Stoll 1982.21
Restored by income from the Marguerite Montgomery Baquie Memorial Trust, with additional support from a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Federal agency.

This painting documents both a major female artist, Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, and a major female patron of pre-Revolutionary France, Madame Adélaïde of France. This splendid 18th-century portrait once served as political propaganda. It embodies the intrigues at court on the eve of the French Revolution. The subject, Adélaïde of France (1732-1800), was the sixth child of the king Louis XV and his queen, Marie Leszczynska. She and her sister, Madame Victoire, were known as Les Mesdames de France when their nephew, Louis XVI, became king in 1774. Here she is shown standing in a grand hall at the palace of Versailles. The objects around her suggest that she has led a productive, courageous, and active life. At the right is a medallion that she has painted, depicting in profile, like an ancient Roman relief, her deceased parents and brother. Underneath is an inscription: "Leur image est encore le charme de ma vie" — "Their image is still the charm of my life." This inscription is a veiled criticism of her nephew, the reigning King Louis XVI. Madame Adélaïde disapproved of him and his frivolous queen, Marie Antionette. On the left is a footstool, on which rests plans for a convent directed by Madame Adélaïde. Her piety and charitable work offer another contrast with her worldly nephew. On the wall behind her is a relief of scenes from the life of Louis XV, most notably Les Mesdames visiting their father on his deathbed.

Madame Adélaïde posed for this portrait in 1787. Six years later, the king and Marie Antoinette died on the guillotine. Madame Adélaïde fled France and later died, destitute and in exile, far from the stately surroundings seen here.