Terms and conditions of use
A junior officer of the French Royal infantry
(c. 1773-1775)
Medium
oil on canvas on canvas
Measurements
59.5 × 46.5 cm (image) 60.5 × 49.5 cm (canvas)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Krystyna Campbell-Pretty AM and Family through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program, 2019
Gallery location
17th & 18th Century Decorative Arts & Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
This portrait of a young infantry officer is from very early in Élisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun’s career and was painted when the artist was around nineteen. As her renown grew during the 1770s, wealthy clientele flocked to the artist’s studio to have their portraits painted. The officer depicted here is dressed in the white uniform of the French Royal infantry, with his gold epaulette indicating that he holds a junior officer’s rank. The delicacy of the painter’s brushwork, and her attention to detail in the costume and effects of light, demonstrate the already highly sophisticated style Vigée Le Brun had mastered, even in her youth.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
France
Inscription
inscribed (vertically) in chalk u.c.: OMP
Accession Number
2019.411
Department
International Painting
Subjects (general)
Military and Warfare Portraits
Subjects (specific)
epaulets half figures men (male humans) military officers military uniforms three-quarter views