Comtesse de la Châtre (Marie Charlotte Louise Perrette Aglaé Bontemps, 1762–1848)

Vigée Le Brun painted Comtesse de la Châtre around 1789, one of her last major portraits before the Revolution forced her flight from Paris. The composition shows her mature portrait style at its most accomplished: the simple white muslin dress typical of Ancien Régime fashionable reform, the sitter's natural ease within the formal portrait format, and the luminous rendering of skin and fabric that was Vigée Le Brun's most distinctive technical quality. The work captures a woman of the French aristocracy at the last moment of the society Vigée Le Brun had so brilliantly documented before the Revolutionary upheaval dismantled it.

Vigée Le Brun captures the comtesse in a moment of natural grace, using the warm palette and soft modeling that define her best portraits. The loose, informal pose and luminous handling of the sitter's dark hair against her fair complexion create an image of effortless beauty.