Chapter I: Front Matter

Memoirs of Madame Vigee Lebrun

Uniform with this volume:

MEMOIRS OF COUNTESS POTOCKA
_Illustrated._ Translated by Lionel Strachey

MEMOIRS OF A CONTEMPORARY
_Illustrated._ Translated by Lionel Strachey

Memoirs of Madame Vigee Lebrun

Translated by Lionel Strachey

With Numerous Reproductions of Paintings by the Authoress

London
Grant Richards
1904

Copyright, 1903, by
Doubleday, Page & Company

Printed by Manhattan Press
New York. N. Y., U. S. A.

PREFATORY NOTE

Madame Lebrun brought out her Memoirs at the suggestion of her friend, the Princess Dolgoruki, in 1835. The authoress was born in 1756, at Paris, where she died in 1842. She was the daughter of Louis Vigee, an obscure portrait painter. Her baptismal name was Marie Louise Elisabeth. In 1776 Mademoiselle Vigee was married to Jean Baptiste Pierre Lebrun, a notable picture dealer and critic, known also to his contemporaries as an inveterate gambler.

This book forms a rendering of Madame Carette's edition of the Lebrun Memoirs, slightly abridged for the sake of uniformity with the "Memoirs of the Countess Potocka" and the "Memoirs of a Contemporary," issuing from the same hands as the present volume.

CONTENTS

Page

CHAPTER I. YOUTH.

Precocious Talents Manifested -- Mlle. Vigee's Father and
Mother -- Death of Her Father -- A Friend of Her Girlhood --
Her Mother Remarries -- Mlle. Vigee's First Portrait of Note
(Count Schouvaloff) -- Acquaintance with Mme. Geoffrin --
The Authoress's Puritanical Bringing-up -- Male Sitters
Attempt Flirtation -- Public Resorts of Paris Before the
Revolution 3

CHAPTER II. UP THE LADDER OF FAME.

Tedious Sojourn in the Country -- Social Amenities in Paris
-- Mlle. Vigee Becomes Mme. Lebrun -- Prognostications of
Unhappy Wedlock -- On the Ladder of Fame -- Singularities of
Oriental Taste -- Marie Antoinette as a Model -- Painting
the Royal Family -- How Louis XVIII. Sang -- The Princess de
Lamballe 16

CHAPTER III. WORK AND PLEASURE.

Impressions of Flanders -- The Authoress's Election to the
French Royal Academy of Painting -- Her Devotion to Work --
Social Pleasures -- A Tale of an Artist's Extravagance --
Calonne and Calumny -- M. Lebrun Allows His Wife Naught Per
Cent. of Her Earnings -- A Dramatic Constellation -- The
Incomparable Mme. Dugazon 32

CHAPTER IV. EXILE.

A Gallic Maecenas -- Anecdote Concerning Beaumarchais -- The
Duke de Nivernais -- Mme. Du Barry Sketched in Words -- And
Painted in Oils -- Rumblings of the Revolution -- Mme.
Lebrun's Fearsome Journey to Italy -- Renewed Artistic
Activity at Rome -- Easter Sunday at St. Peter's --
Fascination of the Eternal City -- Vanities and Violences of
Its People 47

CHAPTER V. NEAPOLITAN DAYS.

Naples -- A Sleepy Ambassadress -- The Remarkable Life of
Lady Hamilton -- Being the Story of a Frivolous Flirt Fond
of Beer -- More Royal Models -- Excursions to Posilippo --
Mlle. Lebrun Writes a Novel at the Age of Nine -- The Queen
of Naples Sits to the Authoress -- The Wedding of the Doge
of Venice with the Sea 63

CHAPTER VI. TURIN AND VIENNA.

A Queen Who Refused to Be Painted -- A Four-Course Dinner of
Frogs, Frogs, Frogs and Frogs -- Villeggiatura -- French
Refugees at Turin -- Their Heartrending Plight -- Vienna --
News of the "Awful Murder" of Louis XVI. and Marie
Antoinette -- Barefoot Princess Lichtenstein -- Inducements
to Visit Russia -- Journey Thither via Dresden -- The
Sistine Madonna 74

CHAPTER VII. SAINT PETERSBURG.

Arrival at St. Petersburg -- The Beautiful Grandduchess
Elisabeth -- Catherine II. Receives Mme. Lebrun -- And Is
Most Gracious -- Petty Court Intrigues -- A Visit to Count
Strogonoff -- Hospitality of the Russians -- An Ambassador
as Gardener -- Princess Dolgoruki and Her Hideous Admirer --
The Extravagances of Potemkin -- His End 83

CHAPTER VIII. LIFE IN RUSSIA.

Painting Russian Royalties -- Festivities at Court -- The
Pangs of Waiting for Dinner -- "To Keep Warm, Spend the
Winter in Russia" -- The Hardiness of Its Common People --
Who Are Well Suited with Serfdom -- And Remarkably Honest --
The Quaint Ceremonial of Blessing the Neva -- Various Social
Customs 96

CHAPTER IX. CATHERINE II.

Surroundings of St. Petersburg -- Patriarchal
Unconventionalities -- An Artillery Repast -- The Greatness
of the Second Catherine -- Who Lit Her Own Fire and Made Her
Own Coffee -- And Was Sworn at by a Chimney Sweeper -- Other
Domestic Amenities in the Career of an Empress -- The Suit
of Gustavus IV. -- Catherine's Death -- Humiliating Funeral
Incidents 109

CHAPTER X. THE EMPEROR PAUL.

Accession of the Emperor Paul -- His Arbitrary Rule -- His
Civility to the Authoress -- A Man Who Did Not Know the
Emperor's Address -- Paul's Kindness to Foreigners -- His
Fear of Assassination -- His Personal Appearance -- The
Empress Maria -- Vagaries of a Half-Mad Emperor -- A Noble
Prelate 119

CHAPTER XI. FAMILY AFFAIRS.

Poniatowski, Last King of Poland -- His Amiable Character --
The Authoress's Faculty of Presaging Death -- Poniatowski
the Nephew -- Mme. Lebrun Received as a Member of the St.
Petersburg Academy -- Her Daughter's Untoward Marriage --
Resulting in Estrangement Between Mother and Child 131

CHAPTER XII. MOSCOW.

Journey to Moscow -- A Bad Smell and Its Origin -- First
Impression of Moscow -- Another Impression, Oral and
Unpleasing -- The Kremlin -- Steam-and-Snow Bathing --
Society -- Luxurious Prince Kurakin -- An Impossible
Duologue -- Examples of Russian Cleverness -- Determination
to Return to France 142

CHAPTER XIII. GOOD-BY TO RUSSIA.

Departure from Moscow -- News of the Death of Paul --
Particulars of His Assassination -- Et tu Brute? -- Paul's
Presentiments of Peril -- His Successor Not an Accomplice in
the Crime -- Alexander I. a Popular Monarch -- An Order
from an Imperial Customer and Model -- Farewells to Friends
-- Among Them Czar and Czarina 154

CHAPTER XIV. HOMEWARD BOUND.

First Station, Narva -- The Cataract -- Riga -- Hardships of
Travel a Hundred Years Ago -- Obdurate Custom-House
Officials -- A Summons to Potsdam -- The Loveliest and
Sweetest of Queens -- Her Ugly Children -- An Ambitious Cook
-- The Journey Continued -- "Remember Your Jewel-Case" --
Modelling in Dirt for a Pastime -- Likewise Sewing -- Home
Again 164

CHAPTER XV. OLD FRIENDS AND NEW.

Paris After the Revolution -- Renewing Old Acquaintances and
Forming New Ties -- Rival Beauties: Mme. Recamier and Mme.
Tallien -- Mme. Campan -- An Englishwoman's Slip of the
Tongue -- Some Distinguished Foreigners 173

CHAPTER XVI. UNMERRY ENGLAND.

London -- Its Historic Piles -- And Dull Sundays -- And
Taciturn People -- Pictures by Sir Joshua Reynolds -- His
Modesty -- How to Dry Pictures in a Damp Climate -- The
Artistic View of a Certain Popular Beauty -- The Prince of
Wales -- His Alleged Attentions to Mme. Lebrun -- The
Authoress Lectures an Unfriendly Critic -- News of One of
Napoleon's "Atrocious Crimes" 182

CHAPTER XVII. PERSONS AND PLACES IN BRITAIN.

English Palaces -- And Scenery -- Suburban Princes --
Richmond Terrace -- An Eccentric Margravine -- The Charm of
the Isle of Wight -- The Britons a Stolid Nation -- Their
Indifference to Rain 192

CHAPTER XVIII. BONAPARTES AND BOURBONS.

Back in Paris -- The Devotion of Mme. Grassini --
Capricious, Exacting Mme. Murat -- Aspects of Christian
Warfare -- "Kill All Those People!" -- Louis XVIII. Enters
the Capital -- The Barrenness of Napoleon's Victories --
His Successor's Attainments -- Bourbon Characteristics --
The Authoress Loses Her Husband, Daughter and Brother --
Conclusion 200