Madame la Maréchale Soult, Lady-in-Waiting to Madame Mère 1805 - 1824

Curator: This is Jacques-Louis David's drawing of Madame la Maréchale Soult, a lady-in-waiting to Madame Mère. Editor: It feels so immediate and intimate, doesn't it? The light pencil strokes give her an almost ephemeral quality. Curator: David was a master of line. Look at how he uses it to define the volumes of her dress and the delicate features of her face. The composition is so controlled. Editor: And yet, you sense the constraints of court life—all the subtle pressures conveyed through her posture. David, even in a sketch, subtly implies the politics of image-making. Curator: Indeed. It's a preparatory sketch, of course, allowing us an unusual glimpse into David's process, how he constructs form through the simplest means. Editor: It really provides a window into another world, doesn't it? So evocative.