Portrait of Comtesse d'Haussonville

This work resulted from a somewhat begrudging encounter—on the artist's part—between the greatest portrait painter in France, in his sixties, and a young princess in her twenties. Ingres labored on this canvas for three years, with several false starts and a great many preparatory drawings. In the end, the artist noted that the finished work had "aroused a storm of approval." One close friend of the family told him, "You must have been in love to depict her in this way."