Madame de Staël as Corinne at Cape Miseno

Madame de Staël as Corinne at Cape Miseno
ArtistElisabeth Vigée Le Brun
Year1807–1809

Madame de Staël as Corinne at Cape Miseno is a painting of Germaine de Staël by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun in the collection of the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire in Geneva. The work was completed between 1807 and 1809. The painting was commissioned by de Staël, who requested a painting showing the character Corinne from her novel Corinne, ou l'Italie. Initially, de Staël proposed that another person model for the role of Corinne; it is not known whether she or Le Brun decided that de Staël should pose for the work.[1]: 259–60 

Background and description

Germaine de Staël commissioned the portrait from Vigée-Lebrun. Known as Marie Antoinette's favored painter, Vigée-Lebrun fled Paris during the Revolution and spent her career between Italy, London, and Saint Petersburg. In the painting, Germaine de Staël is depicted in classical attire, embodying the role of Corinne, the protagonist of her novel Corinne, ou l'Italie. Vigée-Lebrun captures Corinne's strength and grace as a poet and passionate romantic, simultaneously honoring de Staël as a writer, philosopher, and a symbol of female independence. Celebrated for her Parisian salon, de Staël remained a vocal critic of the societal limitations imposed on women.[2]

References

  1. ^ Sheriff, Mary D. (1996). The exceptional woman: Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun and the cultural politics of art. Chicago : University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-75275-4.
  2. ^ "Germaine de Staël en Corinne au Cap Misène | Musée d'art et d'histoire de Genève". www.mahmah.ch (in French). Retrieved 2024-12-17.