Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun
French painterWikipedia
10
MENTIONS
3
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3
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Search complete. 10 mentions across 3 episodes found for "Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun".
Sep 21, 2026
Steve StocktonHOST
And the lady on the lawn.
Steve StocktonHOST
Portraits by Elizabeth Vigée Le Brun, painted in the late 1780s, depicted Marie Antoinette in that same exact informal attire, a white muslin dress with a fichu and a wide straw hat sitting on those very lawns during the final uneasy summer before the mob marched on Versailles.
Steve StocktonHOST
Now, over the years, plenty of skeptics have tried to explain away the lady's adventure.
Steve StocktonHOST
Some folks claim they had stumbled into an elaborate historical costume party thrown by the eccentric French poet Robert de Montesquieu.
Sarah Urist-GreenHOST
Women who did make their way into the art world showed they could absolutely produce work just as accomplished and intellectual as the next guys.
Sarah Urist-GreenHOST
Take this painting by Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun.
Sarah Urist-GreenHOST
It's in the style of the self-portraits we saw earlier, only this one contains layers of hidden meaning.
Sarah Urist-GreenHOST
Vigée Le Brun climbed the ladder of artistic success to eventually become French monarch Marie Antoinette's preferred artist.
Sheila Wray GregoireHOST
And so for this one, the word is witnessing.
Sheila Wray GregoireHOST
And you have a beautiful story of a statue of Elizabeth and Mary.
Sheila Wray GregoireHOST
Can you tell us about that?
Elissa Yukiko WeichbrodtGUEST
Yes.
Elissa Yukiko WeichbrodtGUEST
It's from the early 14th century, and it was made for a convent.
Elissa Yukiko WeichbrodtGUEST
So it's an artwork that is made for women.
Elissa Yukiko WeichbrodtGUEST
And it's Mary and Elizabeth looking at each other, sort of embracing each other, holding hands.
Elissa Yukiko WeichbrodtGUEST
My favorite part about this is that they have these little crystal pregnant bellies set into their wooden forms.