(soft piano music) Lady: This is a remarkable
portrait. It's so life-like. I love her dress, her
collar, her bow, and her hat, and the feather, when
the curtain she pulls away, and how she peaks out at something. Man: It's so animated.
It's really wonderful. For all of the artifist,
all of the complexity, and the attention to
costume. It's not only very natural, but she
comes through. For the energy and curiosity, it feels if you get a sense of who she really is. Lady: Oh! Completely. This is
[completion] by her husband here in the eve of the French
Revolution. Her name is Madame Perregaux. This is a
portrait by Elizabeth Vigee Le Brun. Man: I think it's really
interesting since ... look at the way the
painting is constructed. She's taken a very
simple composition and a very traditional one of a
woman, through the half -length portrait, with a curtain
on one side, and an open space on the other at
a balcony. She's created, first of all, the sense of the Revelation, by pulling the curtain back. Lady: Kind of a little drama. Man: Absolutely. Then she's
also formally constructing that lovely arch on the
lower right. That begins then to set off a couple of other
arch's. The arch's of her arms, of her collar, of her
hat, and then of that lovely red ribbon that
trims her waistcoat. Lady: She's taken a formal element of that broke curtain we see
behind figures in portraits and made it something much more playful. Man: Yeah. It really engaging
it. It's just I think a masterful example of
how the portrait can be brought to life. (piano music)