The Countess of Cambaceres

By 1895 William Bouguereau was 70 and about the most sought-after portraitist in Paris, the painter wealthy families turned to when they wanted to look their best. That year Baron Delaire de Cambacérès commissioned him to paint his wife. In private Bouguereau was not entirely flattering about her, grumbling about a weak chin and an up-tilted nose. So he turned her face toward you, softening both, and set her in a pose of easy aristocratic calm that carries the rest. The carved and gilded frame around her is the original one made for the picture. It reached the Seattle Art Museum in 1988, bought at auction after a long line of French and English owners.