Portrait of a Lady c. 1787

Joseph Duplessis captured this unnamed woman on canvas sometime in the late 18th century. During this time, portraiture was reserved for the aristocracy and those connected to them. What does it mean, then, to be a woman memorialized in paint? Her hair is voluminous, styled in a way that was fashionable but also demanded time and money. Her dress is simple, yet its draping is sensuous, hinting at the body beneath. Her gentle gaze, directed slightly away from us, suggests a reserved but knowing demeanor. Duplessis, as a male artist, had the power to immortalize her image. While her identity remains a mystery, her portrait offers a glimpse into the complex negotiations of identity, status, and representation in a society defined by rigid social hierarchies and gendered expectations. She becomes a figure onto which we can project our own understandings of femininity.