The role of the accessory in a female interior portrait by E. Vigée Le Brun

Abramkin Ivan Aleksandrovich PhD in Art History Associate Professor, School of Art History, Department of theory and history of art, Russian State University for the Humanities 125047, Russia, Moscow, Miusskaya Square, 6 ivanabramkin@list.ru Other publications by this author

The famous French artist Marie-Elisabeth Viger-Lebrun (1755-1842) spent several years in Russia (the period 1795-1801), but managed to create an entire gallery of female images during this short time, which occupies an important place in the development of the portrait genre at the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries. M.-E. Viger-Lebrun's creative approach is characterized by close attention to the display of the material side of painting and the desire to create works with a ceremonial effect. In this regard, it seems natural that it is the interior portrait that turns out to be one of the favorite types of images for both the artist herself and for Russian customers, and embodies the main features of her artistic manner ^{[1, p. 107]}.

The works belonging to this group represent the model in a generational section and in full growth, thereby emphasizing the three-dimensional aspects of placing the figure in the interior, or in the waist and chest section, focusing on its interpretation with the help of various accessories. If the first option has already been studied by the author separately ^[2], then the purpose of this article is to consider several female interior images of M.-E. Viger-Lebrun in order to identify the role of individual attributes in her portrait concept. The result of studying the works will also be a comparison of the approaches used by the French artist to interpret the image in two different versions of the interior portrait, which determines the relevance of the study.

An interior portrait, which assumes the image of a model in the setting of his studies, was actively developed in the European art of the XVIII century and was quite rare in the Russian culture of that time ^{[3, p. 32]}. A few examples were created by representatives of the French school, which began to exert an even more noticeable influence on the Russian portrait tradition in the last third of the century. A significant feature of the French portrait was the active interaction with nearby genres ^{[4, p. 131]}, which enhanced the plot element in the representation of the model. This state of affairs fully corresponded to the aesthetic views of the main French art theorist of the XVIII century – Denis Diderot (1713-1784), who called on artists to reflect the typical characteristics of the model, manifested in behavior, costume, occupation and class affiliation of a person when creating an individual appearance ^{[5, p. 9]}. In this regard, M.-E. Viger-Lebrun can be called a worthy representative of the French school of painting, who possessed the necessary skill to depict a model in a cozy and familiar environment ^{[6, p. 103]}. The artist was attentive to the most diverse details, perceiving this aspect as an integral component of art with references to the great Raphael (1483-1520), who did not leave anything unattended ^{[7, p. 205]}. Even before emigration, M. E. Viger-Lebrun often included expensive accessories in her works ^{[8, p. 104]}, which gave the compositions a special beauty, and the models an elegant personality.

The first work in this series, associated with the Russian stage of M.-E. Viger-Lebrun's work, is "Portrait of A.S. Stroganova" (1793; private collection), which was painted in Vienna before the arrival of the French artist in Russia. Baroness Anna Sergeevna Stroganova (1765-1824), nee Trubetskaya, was the daughter of Prince Sergei Alekseevich Trubetskoy (1731-1777) ^{[9, p. 305]}, the sister of Countess E.S. Samoilova (1763-1830), whose portrait with children was also painted by M.E. Viger-Lebrun already in Russia, and in 1791 she was published She married the diplomat Grigory Alexandrovich Stroganov (1770-1857) ^{[10, p. 268]}. In St. Petersburg, the artist creates another image of A.S. Stroganova, representing her and her son and considered by the author in a separate study ^[11].

M.-E. Viger-Lebrun depicts a model in a generational section sitting half-turned to the viewer and wrapping her arms around a vase of flowers located on a small table covered with fabric in the right part of the work. The inaccessibility of this portrait and, consequently, a small number of reproductions, which are not of the highest quality, determine the existing difficulties of studying it, one of which is to determine the nature of the background of the work: the smooth greenish tone of the background hints at the presence of natural motifs surrounding the figure, which is confirmed by the image of flowers in a vase and the warm style of the model's dress, but the features The organization of the composition and arrangement of A.S. Stroganova make it possible to attribute this portrait to a group of works representing a model in the interior. M.-E. Viger-Lebrun uses an enlarged image scale, in which the figure of A.S. Stroganova occupies almost the entire space of the painting. The persuasiveness in the arrangement of the model gets additional expressiveness due to the conditional background and the emphasis on the foreground of the work, manifested in the placement of a small table on which there is a vase with flowers. Thus, the enlargement and extreme compactness of the image demonstrate the absence of spatial gradation in the construction of the composition and indicate the interior character of the "Portrait of A.S. Stroganova".

The image of the model itself is characterized by compositional persuasiveness and naturalness of movements. The slight turn of A.S. Stroganova's figure to the left side is articulated by the direction of the folds of her dress, which give the image elevation and some mobility, and the position of her right hand, which, despite the protruding elbow, has smooth and relaxed outlines and delicately fixes the compositional center of the work, corresponding to the burgundy belt gently encircling the waist of the model, and the protruding corner of a small a table with a vase of flowers on it. The image of flowers plays an important role in specifying the portrait characteristics.

A.S. Stroganova's face is painted using a bright light source, with careful reproduction of physiognomic features and reflects the thoughtful state of the model, which is manifested in careful handwriting: the palm of A.S. Stroganova's right hand freely wraps around the base of the vase, while with the thin fingers of her left hand she holds several petals, which accentuates the inner calm and sophistication of the portrayed. The coloristic solution corresponds to both the location of the model and its portrait characteristics, differing in conciseness and restraint. M.-E. Viger-Lebrun builds color on a combination of green, burgundy and brown shades, the thoughtful distribution of which leads to their expressive overlap in the space of the painting: so, the lighter green tone of the model's dress allows you to highlight the figure against the background, while the burgundy shade of the belt corresponds to the flower buds, and the brown shade of curly hair corresponds to the velvet fabric covering the table with a vase.

Thus, the "Portrait of A.S. Stroganova" is distinguished by the planar construction of the work and compactness in the arrangement of the figure, which combines the naturalness of movements with the persuasiveness of the pose achieved by thoughtful compositional nuances, and with the sophistication of the figurative solution, which manifests itself in a concise and noble color, in the image of a vase with flowers and in the delicate modeling of the model's hands, which together enhances the interior character of the work, which has a chamber effect.

The next work is "Portrait of N.I. Kurakina" (1797; Utah Museum of Fine Arts), which can be called one of the most interesting women of that era. Princess Natalia Ivanovna Kurakina (1768-1831), nee Golovina, was the daughter of collegiate adviser Ivan Sergeevich Golovin (1735-1802) and in 1783 married Prosecutor General and later Minister of Internal Affairs Alexei Borisovich Kurakin (1759-1829) ^{[12, p. 34]}. After her husband left state affairs and moved to the estate, she went abroad for 3 years under the pretext of improving her health and repeated the journey in the 1820s, where she met with prominent figures in politics, science, literature and the arts: Clemens von Metternich (1773-1859), Charles Maurice de Talleyrand (1754-1838), Arthur Wellesley Wellington (1769-1852), Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), Stendhal (1783-1842), Prosper Merime (1803-1870), Angelica Catalani (1780-1849), Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868), Antonio Salieri (1750-1825), Franz Liszt (1811-1886) ^{[10, p. 200]}. N.I. Kurakina possessed a variety of creative abilities, which were praised by the poet Ivan Ivanovich Dmitriev (1760-1837): she composed about 50 romances on Russian, French and Italian texts, performed throughout the XIX century, was famous for playing the harp, had a wonderful voice. Her artistic reputation was so well known that Alexander I sent her designs for the monument to Minin and Pozharsky for consideration.

Her impressions of visiting European countries and communicating with famous people, as well as an incredible combination of creative talent and broad erudition, are reflected in her memoirs, which demonstrate, among other things, a special connection with M.-E. Viger-Lebrun. As you know, when creating her memoirs at the end of her life, the artist not only included in the publication her letters to the princess about life in pre-revolutionary France, but also left extremely flattering reviews about her: "The kind and charming Princess Kurakina rarely hosted, but she went out every evening, most often to Princess Dolgoruky. Having talked to her at least twice, it was impossible not to love her. Her mind, nature itself and kind disposition had something inexpressibly simple-minded, and I called the princess a seven-year-old child; she conquered all hearts, and I keep her memory not only because of my tender feelings for her" ^{[13, p. 57]}.

M.-E. Viger-Lebrun presents N.I. Kurakin in a waist section on a neutral background in a frontal reversal of a figure with an image of a music book in his hands. Compositionally, the work resembles another famous portrait created by a French artist in Russia a year earlier, the Portrait of E.V. Skavronskaya. This image occupies a borderline place in the interior type of M.-E. Viger-Lebrun image, which, as mentioned above, is embodied in two different versions. In this case, the model, on the one hand, is presented in a slightly designed space with some gradation of the foreground, which resembles the first group of works with an emphasis on placing the figure in the interior, and on the other hand, it is devoid of additional attributes peculiar to the second group: the role of a spectacular accessory is performed by a red pillow placed in the foreground. A separate article is devoted to a more detailed examination of the image of E.V. Skavronskaya in the work of M.-E. Viger-Lebrun ^[14].

The waist section of the work defines a limited range of artistic means and some simplicity in the arrangement of the model, which, nevertheless, is not devoid of compositional thoughtfulness. The artist depicts both the background and the foreground, consisting of a round table top with books in the lower left corner and the back of a chair in the lower right corner, in a common color scheme with beige and brownish shades and giving the work integrity. Moreover, the peculiarities of the interpretation of objects in the foreground, written in fragments, emphasize not only the coloristic unity, but also the planar nature of the composition, based on a combination of a belt format and an enlarged scale. In other words, M.-E. Viger-Lebrun deprives this portrait of any elaboration of the space surrounding the figure and consciously emphasizes the foreground of the work, contributing to a more convincing representation of the model. In the image of N.I. Kurakina, the artist pays considerable attention to the careful painting of the costume, which consists of a fiery orange dress with long sleeves, harmoniously complemented in color by deep blue shades in a shawl, belt and headdress. This combination of enlarged scale with an emphasis on the image of the costume resembles another group of portraits created at the Russian stage of M.-E. Viger-Lebrun's work, representing the model against the sky and having ceremonial features.

Despite some similarities in external features, the Portrait of N.I. Kurakina has noticeable differences with the above-mentioned works, which is manifested in the specifics of the portrait characteristics. Works with the representation of a figure against the sky are distinguished by some static and undetected state of the model, largely due to the insignificant role of the image of hands, which, as is known, serve as a means of concretizing the mood of the portrayed. In this portrait, the interior situation initially determines a wider range of artistic techniques for individualizing the model, carried out by including objects in the work that demonstrate a person's personal preferences and hobbies. Thus, the image of a music book at the moment of flipping through it, which is accompanied by precise and expressive hand movements, gives the image some animation, which, nevertheless, turns out to be insignificant compared to a face that is modeled using a bright light source and determines the static and unconvincing portrait characteristics.

Thus, the coloristic unity and the general lack of expression in the painting of the background and foreground determine the planar character of the "Portrait of N.I. Kurakina", which is distinguished by the persuasiveness and monumentality of the figure's location. These features are due to the combination of a waist section with an enlarged image scale, thoroughness and detail in the writing of the costume and some individuality of the image associated with the inclusion of objects in the work that reflect the personal hobbies of the model and give the image some animation despite the general static and ceremonial effect of the work.

The next work is "Portrait of A.G. Beloselskaya-Belozerskaya" (1798; National Museum of Women in Art). Anna Grigoryevna Beloselskaya-Belozerskaya (1773-1846), nee Kozitskaya, was the daughter of Catherine's state Secretary Grigory Vasilyevich Kozitsky (1724-1775) and a representative of the family of the richest merchant-miner Ekaterina Ivanovna Myasnikova (1746-1833), in 1795 she married the famous philanthropist and diplomat Prince Alexander Mikhailovich Beloselsky (1752-1809), who was able to help marriage to improve their financial situation and cause public discontent, which spread to their wife ^{[9, p. 286]}. Anna Grigoryevna was known for luxurious balls in the built stone house near the Anichkov Bridge and for her economic abilities, which manifested themselves in turning the abandoned Krestovsky Island into a fashionable place for the construction of dachas, which earned her the nickname "Lady des Isles".

"Portrait of A.G. Beloselskaya-Belozerskaya" stands out noticeably in its general artistic solution. M.-E. Viger-Lebrun depicts a model in a waist section on a neutral and indefinite background with brownish shades, with a slight turn of the figure to the left side and achieves a chamber effect in the interpretation of portrait characteristics, despite the richness, nobility of color and splendor the suit. An important artistic technique that determined such an impression was the choice of color for writing the background: if the deep dark background is distinguished by accentuating the model's face and hiding surrounding objects, and the grayish background is generally neutral and restrained, then the moderate intensity of the brown tone gives the image, on the one hand, softness and delicacy in writing the elements of the costume, and on the other the other one determines their brightness and material persuasiveness.

The artist chooses shades for the image of the garment that harmoniously match the background and collectively enhance the richness of the color solution: the whiteness and subtlety of the dress is emphasized by the warm shade of the yellow jacket, which acts as a calm tone, enlivened by orange and blue-black shades in the headdress, which has the shape of a turban, and in the wide folds of the shawl, consonant according to the expressiveness of the dark hair of the model. In this case, the costume, partly corresponding to the style of Turkeri, gives the appearance of the model an individual character. The fascination with Turkish themes was an important trend in the development of French artistic culture of the XVIII century, embodied in the work of M.-E. Viger-Lebrun, and achieved incredible popularity in the middle of the century, especially after the demonstration at the Salon of 1742 of the "Portrait of Said Pasha, Ambassador of Sultan Mahmud I", which was created by Jacques Andre Joseph Aved (1702-1766) ^{[15, p. 76]}. Then the Marquise de Pompadour (1721-1764) commissioned three portraits in the image of the sultana by the famous artist Charles Andre van Loo (1705-1765), and Empress Maria Theresa of Austria wanted to be depicted in a Turkish costume by Jean-Etienne Liotard (1702-1789) ^{[16, p. 61]}. The desire for costuming arose in Russian art somewhat later and became a fashionable option for creating a portrait towards the end of the XVIII century ^[17]. All this allows us to say that the Turkeri costume plays the role of an accessory, enhancing the exclusivity of the situation and defining the ambiguity of the image, which is distinguished by both conviviality and some fragility.

The feeling of fragility is largely due to the peculiarities of the model's location. The slight turn of the figure to the left is accentuated by the fluttering folds of the shawl, which hide the hands of A.G. Beloselskaya-Belozerskaya from the viewer, but at the same time it is not compositionally revealed in the organization of the work, which was characteristic of many waist portraits against the background of nature, which have some similarities with this painting. The absence of compositional nuances responsible for the persuasiveness and expressiveness of the figure's location leads to a static pose and determines the instability and seemingly randomness of the model's location within the portrait. Such a lack of expression of artistic means in the arrangement of A.G. Beloselskaya-Belozerskaya corresponds to a portrait characteristic that demonstrates restraint and closeness from the viewer: the face is painted in a natural manner, characterized by soft lighting and moderate identification of physiognomic features, and the gaze directed slightly to the side and combining thoughtfulness with focusing on some object reflects a barely noticeable inner life as if stopped by the presence of a spectator.

Thus, the "Portrait of A.G. Beloselskaya-Belozerskaya" makes an ambiguous impression: the neutral brown background, the richness and nobility of the shades chosen by the artist, the detailed writing of the magnificent costume, it would seem, indicate the representative nature of the work, while other features (compositional non-manifestation of the figure reversal, static posture, closeness of the model from the viewer, restraint of the portrait characteristics, thoughtfulness and concreteness of the look) create a situation of solitude of the model with herself, interrupted by the appearance of the viewer, which gives the image chamber features.

The last work in this series is "Portrait of N.Z. Kolycheva" (1799; private collection). Natalia Zakharovna Kolycheva (1774-1803), nee Khitrovo, was the daughter of the actual state councilor and Tula provincial leader of the nobility Zakhar Alekseevich Khitrovo (1734-1798) and Alexandra Nikolaevna (1754-1829), nee Maslova, became a maid of honor to Empress Maria Feodorovna and in 1799, the year the portrait was painted, married a diplomat, the actual privy councilor Stepan Alekseyevich Kolychev (1746-1805), who passionately loved his wife and suffered her quick death extremely hard in 1803, surviving her for only a year and a half.

"Portrait of N.Z. Kolycheva" in general resembles "Portrait of N.I. Kurakina" in general typological features (neutral background, waist section), but has a number of significant differences. M.-E. Viger-Lebrun depicts the model on a slightly smaller scale and with an active turn of the figure to the right side, which changes the compositional solution and the specifics of the figure's location. An indeterminate background, painted in blurred blue-beige shades, evenly fills the space, thereby highlighting the foreground of the work, which has some spatial characteristics. To be more precise, a strong reversal by N.Z. Kolycheva allows you to achieve the effect of extension in the image of objects that occupy a significant place in the composition and formalize the location of the model: for example, a voluminous green pillow on which the book lies occupies the entire left half of the foreground, exactly corresponding to the pose of the person being portrayed, and the back of a green chair depicted in in the lower right corner, at a slight distance from the figure, it not only creates a slight diagonal movement that determines some spatial gradation of the foreground, but also causes a feeling of the model approaching the viewer.

The very location of N.Z. Kolycheva is distinguished by its external persuasiveness: the figure occupies the very center of the work, thereby limiting the diagonal impulse, which moderately enriches the compositional solution, and has subtle graceful outlines, manifested in the gesture of the hand and in the flexible folds of the shawl in the right part of the painting. The feeling of elegance is largely due to the fact that, compared with the previous work by M.E. Viger-Lebrun, he uses a reduced image scale and pays considerable attention to the detailed painting of the foreground of the interior, which visually expands the space of the portrait and emphasizes the slimness and sophistication of the model. The portrait characteristic generally corresponds to the persuasiveness of the model's location, enhancing compositional thoughtfulness: with the fingers of her left hand, which have a somewhat mannered appearance, N.Z. Kolycheva holds a medallion that hangs on a thin gold chain and is located above the book, thereby accentuating the reversal of the figure to the right side, while her face is painted using a bright light source and black-and-white modeling, which give the image a dazzling effect ^{[8, p. 39]}, which is also characteristic of a coloristic solution, characterized by brightness and luminous character of paints. In other words, the accessories used in this case (the book and the medallion) allow not only to emphasize the sophistication of the depicted model, but also to enhance the ceremonial effect of the portrait.

Thus, "Portrait of N.Z. Kolycheva", in comparison with previous works, stands out for the reduced scale of the image and the active reversal of the figure, which cause the introduction of light diagonal movement into the composition, spatial gradation of the foreground and the grace of the model, whose convincing location in the portrait space, nevertheless, indicates its explicit representation, manifested in the demonstrative nature of the pose and movements, in a vivid interpretation of color and chiaroscuro, defines the ceremonial features of the image.

So, considering the female interior images created by M.-E. Viger-Lebrun in Russia and representing the model in the waist section, it can be concluded that the inclusion of genre motifs has a special significance in her portrait concept ^{[3, p. 63]}, acting as an accessory (a vase with flowers, sheet music, a book, medallion, costume). These objects not only show the hobbies of the model, testifying to her family virtues ^{[18, p. 224]}, but also give the work expressiveness, emphasizing the individuality of the portrayed. It is also necessary to note an important nuance in the interpretation of accessories, which rather show signs of some activity than the active immersion of the model in the process itself, and thus have a conditional character designed for external effectiveness. The obvious orientation of the works towards a pronounced demonstration of the figure and its hobbies evoke an analogy with the most popular semi-parade version of the representation of a male model in the form of a statesman ^{[3, p. 56]}. Among the common features can be attributed the image of a figure in the interior, the concretization of the role with the help of objects, emphasized posing, the important role of the costume.

In addition, a careful study of the works now allows us to compare them with another group of interior portraits by M.-E. Viger-Lebrun, representing the model in a more developed space and in a generational section or in full growth. The differences that exist between the two versions of the interior portrait in the work of the French master are manifested in the accents when using painting techniques, which determines the artistic features of the works. So, portraits painted in a generational cut or in full growth are distinguished by the inclusion of a vertical support in the interior to complicate the space with a diagonal impulse, restrained color and some detachment of the model from the viewer. The portraits created in the waist section demonstrate the persuasiveness and compactness of the pose, bright color and intense lighting, greater attention to the writing of the costume and the special role of accessories in the individualization of the appearance. In other words, the first group of works testifies to the natural nature of representation, which gives the works some restraint, and the second is distinguished by the convincing location of the model and the effectiveness of its depiction of models, which enhances the ceremonial effect of the images.

You can simply select and copy link from below text field.