Yolande-Martine-Gabrielle de Polastron, Duchess de Polignac

Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun executed this oil on canvas portrait of Yolande-Martine-Gabrielle de Polastron, Duchess de Polignac, in 1782. The work, also known as "Portrait au chapeau de paille," depicts the subject in a half-length format wearing a straw hat and holding a rose against a sky-blue background. It currently bears the inventory number MV 8971 and is held within the collections of the Museum of the History of France at the Palace of Versailles.

The portrait is held by the Musée national des châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, located at the Palace of Versailles in France. Within this collection, the work carries the inventory number MV 8971. The painting was created in 1782 by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun and depicts Yolande-Martine-Gabrielle de Polastron wearing a straw hat.

The provided sources do not contain specific records of past or future exhibitions for this artwork.

Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun painted the Portrait de la duchesesse de Polignac in 1782, depicting Yolande-Martine-Gabrielle de Polastron in a muslin dress with a straw hat adorned with a feather and flower, set against a sky‑blue backdrop; the work measures 92.3 cm by 73.6 cm and is housed in the Musée de l'Histoire de France at the Palace of Versailles. It was exhibited at the Salon of 1783 and quickly entered the royal collection, where it became a reference point for aristocratic portraiture in the Ancien Régime. Contemporary critics praised Vigée Le Brun's ability to blend elegance with psychological immediacy, noting the sitter's poised demeanor and the delicate rendering of fabric and accessories, a reception that cemented the painting's status as a paradigm of 18th‑century French portraiture.

The portrait of Yolande-Martine-Gabrielle de Polastron, Duchess de Polignac, painted by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun in 1782, has been recognized as an important representation of aristocratic femininity in pre-Revolutionary France. It is part of the collection at the Palace of Versailles and is documented in the Joconde database under inventory number MV 8971. The work continues to be referenced in scholarly and cultural discussions of 18th-century French portraiture and the social influence of the Duchess within the royal court.

Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun’s 1792 oil portrait presents Yolande‑Martine‑Gabrielle de Polastron, Duchess of Polignac, in a poised half‑length pose. The sitter is shown wearing a white dress, a black shawl, and a straw hat embellished with feathers and flowers, her right hand resting lightly on a tabletop. The work is housed in the collection of the Palace of Versailles.