Portrait Anne Catherine Le Preudhomme de Chatenoy Comtesse der Verdun 

Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun painted this portrait of Anne Catherine Le Preudhomme de Chatenoy Comtesse der Verdun in oil. Here we see the sitter adorned with a straw hat, a symbol that speaks volumes about the changing social mores of the late 18th century. The hat, trimmed with flowers and a ribbon, echoes images of shepherds and shepherdesses popular since antiquity. These pastoral motifs signal a longing for a simpler, more natural existence. The hat motif is an interesting one, appearing in Renaissance paintings as a signifier of status. It then evolved to suggest a connection to the earth and to a form of innocence, a kind of pre-lapsarian state. Psychologically, it evokes a collective memory of Arcadia, an unspoiled paradise, tapping into an enduring human desire for peace. This symbol is cyclical; the hat returns in art again and again. The meaning shifts and evolves as it re-emerges in different historical contexts.