PORTRAIT OF ELISA BONAPARTE

Creator(s): Jean-Baptiste Isabey (Artist)

On view in: French Drawing Room

About this object

The name Isabey is intimately tied to Napoleon I and his court. Isabey was entrusted with overseeing the ceremonies for the coronation of Napoleon and the ensuing festivities, becoming court painter to the Empress in 1804. The artist recorded the Bonaparte family in a series of magnificent miniature portraits. Isabey must have painted Elisa, eldest sister of Napoleon, and Princess of Lucca and Piombino, around 1810 when she was at the height of her political influence.

The miniature portrait is that of Elisa Bonaparte (1777-1855), the eldest sister of Napoleon I. She is represented in half length, facing forward. She has dark hair which is swept up in the back, and a few curls falling onto her forehead. She wears a white muslin décolleté dress in the French Empire style with short puffed sleeves and a high waistline marked under the bust with a white satin sash. The shape of the miniature is elongated and eight sided with a gold frame edged with blue enamel.

Object name:

PORTRAIT OF ELISA BONAPARTE

Made from:

Watercolor on ivory -- gold -- enamel

Made in:

Paris, France

Date made:

ca. 1810

Size:

7.9 × 4.1 cm (3 1/8 × 1 5/8 in.)

Detailed information for this item

Catalog number:

53.6

Class:

MINIATURE

Signature marks:

SIGNATURE; LABEL signed at left on her left arm: Isabey; on back paper label: 5215

Credit line:

Bequest of Marjorie Merriweather Post, 1973