Souvenirs De Madame Louise-Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, Tome Troisième

This is the third volume of the celebrated memoirs of Louise-Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, the most famous female portraitist of the 18th century. After fleeing revolutionary France, she found refuge in Russia and chronicles her life at the court of Emperor Paul I, a monarch whose unpredictable temperament kept the aristocracy in perpetual dread. Through her keen observations, she reveals the precarious existence of an artist navigating imperial favor, where a single misplaced word at a court ball could destroy an innocent life. Her vivid anecdotes illuminate both the grandeur and the terror of Russian nobility, offering an intimate portrait of power, artistic survival, and exile. This volume stands as both a remarkable historical document and a testament to a pioneering woman's indomitable spirit in an age of revolution and upheaval.