Luise von Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of Prussia

This 1802 portrait of Queen Luise of Prussia captures one of the most admired women in early 19th-century Europe. The Prussian queen’s beauty, patriotism, and early death in 1810 made her a legendary figure, and Vigée Le Brun’s portrait contributes to the iconography of a woman who became a symbol of Prussian national identity. 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.

Vigée Le Brun renders the queen with idealized beauty appropriate to her legendary status. The luminous technique and graceful composition create a portrait that hovers between realistic likeness and idealized representation.