Madame Dugazon in the Role of "Nina"

This 1787 portrait of Madame Dugazon in character depicts the celebrated actress Louise-Rosalie Lefèvre in her role as Nina, from Dalayrac’s opéra-comique. Vigée Le Brun’s theatrical portraits combined the conventions of formal portraiture with the expressive possibilities of stage costume, creating vivid records of Parisian theatrical culture. Vigée Le Brun was the most technically accomplished and socially successful woman painter of the eighteenth century, achieving membership of the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in 1783 and a clientele that extended from the French royal family to the courts of Russia, Austria, and Italy during her decade of exile following the Revolution. Her portrait manner combined the neoclassical formal values of her training with a quality of feminine intimacy and emotional warmth that made her portraits of women and children especially celebrated. Her ability to make her sitters appear simultaneously dignified and approachable was the technical foundation of her social success.

The theatrical costume allows Vigée Le Brun to paint flowing fabrics and expressive pose. The sitter’s dramatic expression reflects the character’s emotional state, adding narrative dimension to the portrait format.