Pauline de Broglie, Princess de Broglie, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres - ca. 1852 from the old master collection

Joséphine-Éléonore-Marie-Pauline de Galard de Brassac de Béarn (1825-1860), Princesse de Broglie.

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, the neo-classical French artist par excellence, painted this masterpiece at the end of his life when his reputation as a portraitist of prominent citizens and orléanist aristocrats was long established. Pauline de Broglie was in charge of the artist's final commission. Ingres captures the shy reserve of his subject while using seamless brushwork to highlight the material quality of her many fine features: her rich blue satin and lace ball gown, the gold embroidered scarf and silk damask chair, along with finely crafted mother-of-pearl, enamel and gold. The portrait was commissioned by the babysitter's husband, Albert de Broglie, a few years after their fateful marriage. Pauline was struck by tuberculosis shortly after completion of the beautiful portrait, leaving five sons and a grieving husband behind. During Albert's life, it was draped in dust on the walls of the family home. The portrait remained in the de Broglie family until shortly before Robert Lehman bought it.