Portrait of the Duchesse de Berry

Art Historical Context

This lithograph captures the Duchesse de Berry, a key figure in the French Bourbon Restoration, rendered by Baron François Pascal Simon Gérard around 1815–16. Gérard, celebrated for his elegant neoclassical portraits of European royalty and Napoleon’s court, here translates his refined style into print form. The intimate scale and delicate linework emphasize the sitter’s poised dignity at a moment when France was reestablishing its monarchy after the Napoleonic Wars. Created on ivory laid paper using the newly invented medium of lithography, the work exemplifies the technique’s early artistic potential. Lithography allowed artists to draw directly on stone, producing velvety blacks and subtle tonal gradations that closely mimicked drawings. This made royal imagery more widely accessible beyond painted originals, helping shape public perception of the restored Bourbon family. Today, the print resides in the Art Institute of Chicago’s collection of works on paper, offering visitors a glimpse into both the technical innovation of early nineteenth-century printmaking and the cultural role of portraiture in political restoration.