DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61284#0211
102
VIGEE-LEBRUN
paradoxical, is far from the truth. Circumstances, especially professional,
threw her almost from childhood among those who bore titles and wore
orders; and as in their houses almost all the most entertaining people in
France were to be met, there is no reason to be surprised if a charming
young woman who worked very hard all day, chose to spend her hours of
relaxation in that society where she was most certain to be amused.
She was of a bright and kindly disposition, as ready to give pleasure
as to receive it, and she was asked again and again, year after year and in
some cases week after week, to houses which she had first entered merely as
a professional painter.
Vigee-Lebrun had several accomplishments besides painting. She could
converse intelligently and with spirit; she was well supplied with anecdote
and gossip, of the more harmless sort. She was not malicious. Her worst
way of hurting the reputation of any one who may have stood in her light
was to say nothing about that person. It was only when venomous things
were said about herself or her friends that she used strong adjectives.
She could act, she could sing pleasantly, though her voice was untrained,
and she could appreciate literary talent. In her old age her memory often
betrayed her in recalling the incidents of her youth and middle-age, but
it was far better than most, and in her prime it must have been excellent.
At all times she was a favourite with both women and men, and this fact
alone would show that she was no ordinary being.
If her qualities of mind and person are to be put in a string of words,
let us say that she was graceful, pretty, attractive, lively, good-tempered,
loyal, sane, and clever—in a time when cleverness was not nearly so
common as it has since become.
VIGEE-LEBRUN
paradoxical, is far from the truth. Circumstances, especially professional,
threw her almost from childhood among those who bore titles and wore
orders; and as in their houses almost all the most entertaining people in
France were to be met, there is no reason to be surprised if a charming
young woman who worked very hard all day, chose to spend her hours of
relaxation in that society where she was most certain to be amused.
She was of a bright and kindly disposition, as ready to give pleasure
as to receive it, and she was asked again and again, year after year and in
some cases week after week, to houses which she had first entered merely as
a professional painter.
Vigee-Lebrun had several accomplishments besides painting. She could
converse intelligently and with spirit; she was well supplied with anecdote
and gossip, of the more harmless sort. She was not malicious. Her worst
way of hurting the reputation of any one who may have stood in her light
was to say nothing about that person. It was only when venomous things
were said about herself or her friends that she used strong adjectives.
She could act, she could sing pleasantly, though her voice was untrained,
and she could appreciate literary talent. In her old age her memory often
betrayed her in recalling the incidents of her youth and middle-age, but
it was far better than most, and in her prime it must have been excellent.
At all times she was a favourite with both women and men, and this fact
alone would show that she was no ordinary being.
If her qualities of mind and person are to be put in a string of words,
let us say that she was graceful, pretty, attractive, lively, good-tempered,
loyal, sane, and clever—in a time when cleverness was not nearly so
common as it has since become.