The Duchesse de Berry in a Blue Velvet Dress

Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun's portrait of the Duchesse de Berry in a Blue Velvet Dress of 1824 depicts the wife of the assassinated Duc de Berry, who had become the symbol of Legitimist hopes through her son's birth seven months after his father's murder. The 'miracle child' Henri — later the Comte de Chambord and the last legitimate Bourbon pretender — represented the dynasty's future, and the Duchesse's image carried enormous political significance. Vigée Le Brun, then in her late sixties, brought her characteristic luminous flattery to a subject of considerable political as well as artistic importance.

Vigée Le Brun renders the duchess in a rich blue velvet dress with her characteristic flattering elegance and soft, luminous handling. The warm complexion and graceful pose demonstrate the techniques that made her the most celebrated female painter of her era.