Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun: A Portraitist of the Ancien Régime Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, born in Paris in 1755 and passing away in 1842, stands as a pivotal figure in the history of French art. More than simply a painter, she was a shrewd observer of her time, a master of portraiture, and a woman who navigated the complex social landscape of the late 18th and early 19th centuries with remarkable skill and resilience. Her life story is intertwined with the dramatic shifts occurring in European society – from the opulence of the Ancien Régime to the revolutionary fervor that would ultimatel…