This painting was recorded in the Sakıp Sabancı Museum Painting Collection inventory as the companion of the other portrait of a Young Girl, since both works were in identical frames. Like the other painting, this portrait is also a copy, painted from a self-portrait of Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (1755-1842), a prominent female representative of 18th-century French portrait painting. Originally made in 1790 for the Accademia di San Luca in Rome, the painting resides in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Verviers, Belgium.
Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun was known for her distinctive, touching, and emotional portraits from a very young age. In 1774 she became a member of the Académie de Saint-Luc, the Parisian guild of painters and sculptors. As her career blossomed, she was granted patronage by Marie Antoinette, leading to the eventual perception that she was her official portraitist. In 1783 she was given full membership in the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture, becoming one of only 15 women to reach this status between 1648 and 1793. At the end of the 18th century, when women artists were excluded from academic art training, she became a wellknown painter among the European nobility.
In this painting, Vigée Le Brun, who painted many selfportraits at different ages, depicts herself with a grey and white scarf with gold embroidery tied twice around her neck and wrapped around her head. The red sash around the waistline of her dress is also partially visible. Abdülmecid Efendi copied this portrait, which he possibly saw in the newspapers, art publications, or postcards in his library. However, it is not known if he was familiar with its artist.
Although it is not possible to determine whether the painting was originally mounted in its Rococo frame, the backs of both frames bear the label of the Viennese court gilder Rudolf Bauer. At the top of the label is the doubleheaded eagle insignia of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Beneath this is written: “Rudolf Bauer k. k. [kaiserlich und königlich] Hof-Vergolder Wien. FABRIK: VI. Windmühlgasse 12. NIEDERLAGE: I. Plankengasse 3.”
