Marie-Guillemine Benoist - Portrait of Madeleine

Title: Portrait of Madeleine
Artist: Marie-Guillemine Benoist (1768-1826)
Date: 1800
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 81 x 65 cm

Marie-Guillemine Benoist was trained by Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, a master of portraits, and by David, the master of Neo-classicism.

“Portrait of Madeleine” was exhibited in 1800 at the Paris Salon. Madeleine, beautiful and serene, is looking straight at the viewer in a soft way but is not clear how to read this painting- is she an enslaved or dominated woman told to expose her breast and pose or is she a person, feeling and considered equal to and by the artist, who is simply superiorly beautiful. Her white clothing, a single breast exposed and the belt over her belly are symbols of fertility.