Portrait of Princess Belozersky
(1798).


Élisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun (French, 1755-1842).
Oil on canvas.
NMWA.

Vigée-LeBrun portrays the Russian princess as beautiful and approachable.

She wears a faint smile on her moist lips, her curly hair is attractively tousled, and her two-tone shawl and matching fringed headwrap add warmth to her coloring and the portrait as a whole.

The artist has downplayed the luxury of her sitter’s life. The princess wears a simple, long-sleeved, high-waisted dress.