Peace bringing back Prosperity

Vigée Le Brun painted "Peace Bringing Back Prosperity" in 1780 as her reception piece for the Académie Royale, to which she was admitted through the personal intervention of Marie Antoinette. The allegorical subject, showing Peace restoring abundance to the land, demonstrated Vigée Le Brun's ambition to be recognized beyond portraiture. Her admission to the Académie was controversial due to her gender and her husband's profession as an art dealer.

Vigée Le Brun renders the allegorical figures with the luminous flesh tones and graceful composition that define her style. The warm palette and flowing forms combine classical allegory with the sensuous handling characteristic of her portrait work.