When Ingres was asked to paint a portrait of Louise de Broglie, Comtesse d’Haussonville, he was in his sixties and the leader of the neoclassical school. He had little interest in painting society portraits of wealthy young women, but he could not resist. Over the course of three years, he labored over getting this portrait just right, producing some eighty preparatory drawings. Louise’s right arm is slightly too low to be anatomically correct, but Ingres deliberately worked it out that way to present a more pleasing composition. The painting is signed 1845 on the side of the chair.

Ingres presents a scene of casual intimacy, as if Louise has just returned home from the opera: her yellow shawl is tossed on the chair at right; her black opera glasses are placed on the mantel; her bright blue evening bag is draped on the mounted porcelain vase behind her. The corners of the visiting cards are turned up, signaling visits made while she was out. Her gold bracelet and ring are inset with fashionable turquoise, the snake-shaped ring made in a style called à la Cléopatre.

Her grandmother was the formidable and prolific writer Madame de Staël, and the Comtesse d’Haussonville was an accomplished writer in her own right. Yet there is no hint in this portrait of her literary achievements. Her books—including biographies of Lord Byron and the Irish revolutionary Robert Emmet—were published anonymously, as requested by her diplomat and politician husband, to avoid public scrutiny.

Louise treasured this portrait, which was listed among her possessions in her will, second only to the family chateau at Coppet, in Switzerland. When Ingres finally finished it, it “aroused a storm of approval,” in the artist’s words. One commentator noted, somewhat cheekily, to Louise, “Monsieur Ingres must have been in love with you to have painted you this way.”