Madame Moitessier

Madame Moitessier rests one finger against her temple while looking directly at us. Behind her, a mirror repeats the side of her head and shoulder. In front, the patterned silk dress spreads into an elaborate field of flowers. Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, a French painter, began the commission in 1844 and completed this portrait in 1856. During those twelve years, he revised the arrangement and changed the dress to keep up with fashion. A daughter who was originally to appear beside her was removed from the design. The sitter’s distinctive pose draws on an ancient Roman wall painting from Herculaneum. Her contemporary wealth and dress are given the stillness and authority of a classical image. Compare the firm outline of the hand with the many coloured shapes in the fabric. The mirror seems to offer another view, but it also becomes another carefully arranged part of the picture. Ingres balances a recognisable individual, fashionable possessions and an ideal pose within one tightly organised surface.