Madame Erneste Bioche de Misery

Girodet's portrait of Madame Erneste Bioche de Misery from 1807, held at the National Gallery of Canada, demonstrates his reach as a portraitist of the imperial bourgeoisie—the administrative and commercial families whose prosperity derived from the Napoleonic state and whose social aspirations required the validation of official art. The work belongs to his most productive portrait decade, when his Atala and the Ossian ceiling had established his Romantic reputation while his portrait practice served the steady demand from Napoleon's expanding administrative class. His female portraits of this period are distinguished by a quality of psychological intimacy—the sitter's individual character conveyed through subtle observation of expression and bearing—that complemented the formal conventions of official portraiture.

Girodet renders the sitter's costume and accessories with meticulous attention to the textures of silk, lace, and jewelry. His flesh painting achieves the smooth, luminous quality characteristic of Neoclassical female portraiture. The composition balances the elaborate details of Empire-period dress with the quieter treatment of the face and background.