Between Idealization and Individuality: Female Portraits of the 18th and Early 19th Centuries

With his portrait “Madame de Pompadour” from 1756, François Boucher elevated French Rococo portraiture to a new peak. The sitter, Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson (1721-1764), rose to become the most influential woman at the court of Louis XV as the Marquise de Pompadour. Intelligent, beautiful, and deeply engaged in the arts, she was not only the king’s mistress but also a political advisor and a prominent patron of culture. 

In this portrait, which she personally commissioned, the Marquise reclines on a chaise longue in an elegant boudoir. The setting is rich in symbolism: books bearing her coat of arms reference her literary interests, seals and letters point to her political involvement, sheets of music highlight her musical talents, and engravings allude to her artistic pursuits. Her elaborately adorned afternoon gown underscores her status as a fashion icon. A mirror in the background subtly draws the viewer into the scene. 

Although Pompadour was already seriously ill at the time and reportedly emaciated, Boucher presents her in idealized beauty. 

In contrast, the portraiture of English painter George Romney emphasizes restraint and grace. According to Romney’s own records, the painting “Catherine Clements” was completed in eight sittings between September 30 and October 23, 1788. It depicts the eldest daughter of influential Irish statesman John Beresford as a knee-length figure in an open landscape. Catherine (1760-1836) married Member of Parliament Henry Theophilus Clements in the same year. 

A characteristic of Romney’s portraits is the apparent simplicity of contour and palette, deliberately avoiding sharpness in color or posture. The painting is rendered in a naturalistic color scheme that lends it a particular softness and elegance. Romney refrains from dramatic effects, instead focusing on a harmonious overall impression that highlights the sitter’s grace and dignity. 

In conscious departure from the realistic portrait style championed by artists like Reynolds, Romney pursued an idealized representation that reflected the social self-image of his patrons. The portrait of Catherine Clements was created shortly before a major health crisis in Romney’s life and marks a high point in his artistic career. 

In Goya’s portrait “Marquesa de Caballero”, courtly idealization gives way to an unflinching realism that critically examines not only the sitter’s appearance but also her social role. Created in 1807, the painting belongs to Goya’s phase of bourgeois portraiture. It depicts Doña María Soledad de la Rocha Fernández de la Peña (1774-1809), who had served as court lady to Queen Maria Luisa since 1795 and married Justice Minister José Antonio Marqués de Caballero in 1800 – a man considered reactionary and of questionable honor. The portrait was painted alongside its counterpart of her husband, marking his elevation to the title of Marqués. 

The Marquesa sits slightly off-center in an armchair, dressed festively in an Empire-style gown of blue-green silk with gold-embroidered voile. The low neckline and short sleeves reflect the taste of Queen Maria Luisa, who liked to accentuate her arms. In her hands, she holds a fan and a billet bearing her new title. 

Goya portrays the thirty-three-year-old without any embellishment. The ruffled lace at the neckline and sleeves accentuates her less flattering features. The color palette is restrained yet effective – a testament to Goya’s masterful skill in character portrayal. As in his famous portrait of Queen Maria Luisa in The Family of Charles IV (Prado, Madrid), Goya remains unimpressed by the rank of his sitters. Instead, he exposes their human frailties and maintains a critical distance from nobility and power.