Portrait de Madame de Senonnes

Painted in Rome in 1814, this portrait of Marie-Geneviève-Marguerite de Lacoste, Vicomtesse de Senonnes, is considered one of Ingres's finest female portraits and a supreme example of his Roman period work. The sitter was the young wife of a Napoleonic official serving in Rome, one of the French expatriate community that provided Ingres with portrait commissions during the years when he was consolidating his classical training away from Paris. The work remained in private hands until acquired by the Nantes museum in 1853. What distinguishes it from conventional Neoclassical portraiture is Ingres's extraordinary sensitivity to the sitter's personality and beauty, conveyed through the warm red velvet sofa, the mirror behind her reflecting her neckline, and the delicate lace at her bodice rendered with almost microscopic precision. The Nantes Museum of Arts holds this as one of the crown jewels of its collection, a painting that can compete with Ingres's most celebrated Parisian portraits in its psychological depth and technical virtuosity.

The luminous rendering of the red velvet sofa against the mirror creates a sumptuous atmosphere. Ingres's meticulous treatment of the sitter's lace collar and jewelry demonstrates his unrivaled skill in depicting textiles and accessories.