Executed in 1812, when Lizinka Aimée Zoé de Mirbel was only sixteen and a pupil of the celebrated miniaturist Jean Baptiste Jacques Augustin, these highly finished chalk portraits show the young artist already in command of a refined and incisive style.
The lady is depicted with her hair dressed fashionably à la grecque, with small spiral curls framing her face. Her head is adorned with a wide silk or velvet bandeau set with a central oval jewel and edged along the crown with a delicate row of pearls; an Empire-period accessory directly inspired by antique diadems. Her gown, with a low, softly draped neckline with an elaborately detailed trim, reflects the neoclassical elegance popular under the First French Empire, which sought to emulate the purity and simplicity of ancient Roman dress. The exposed right breast further reflects neoclassical conventions of female portraiture, evoking antique ideals of beauty and virtue, which is comparable in this regard with De Mirbel's miniature in the National Museum of Sweden of an unknown woman with bare breasts.
That these sitters were drawn “d’après nature” (from life) while Mirbel was still a student indicates they were part of the artist’s early professional circle, likely figures from elite Parisian society connected either to her family or to her patrons. The pairing not only offers a rare survival from Mirbel’s formative years under Augustin, but also a fascinating document of First Empire fashion, status, and portrait conventions.
Lizinka Aimée Zoé de Mirbel was one of the most gifted pupils of Jean-Baptiste Jacques Augustin, whose studio she joined in 1811. She became his collaborator in 1814 and later opened her own successful studio in 1831. Through her talent and her position at court, Mirbel quickly established herself as one of the most important miniature painters of her time, even succeeding Augustin as court painter to King Louis XVIII.
Her portraits more broadly, distinguished by finesse of execution, accuracy of drawing, and freshness and harmony of colouring, met with considerable success during her career. The esteem in which she was held by society and her contemporaries is testified by her prominent portrayal at the centre of Heim's 1827 painting Charles X Distributing Awards to Artists at the Salon of 1824 surrounded by her male peers. She portrayed numerous sovereigns and leading personalities of her time, many of whose likenesses were exhibited at the Salons. Among her sitters were Charles X, the Duke of Fitz-James (1827, later engraved by Jacques Étienne Pannier), the Duke Decazes, the Princess of Chalais, Count Demidoff (1834), Louise of Orléans, the Queen of the Belgians, the Duke of Orléans, the Count of Paris, the dancer Fanny Essler (1839), General Gourgaud (1841), Mesdames Guizot and Martin du Nord (1844), the Duchess of Trévise (1845), the Marshal of Reggio (1847), and Émile de Girardin (1848). Antoine-Laurent Dantan produced a sculpted portrait of Madame de Mirbel in 1852, attesting to her renown.
In addition to her miniatures, Mirbel also painted in watercolour. She was awarded three medals during her career, including a first-class medal, and trained a number of students such as Louise Pauline Vaillant, Augustine Dallemagne, Améline Robilliard, and Sidonie Berthon. Several of her works are now held in prestigious collections, including the Wallace Collection, London and the Nationalmuseum of Sweden in Stockholm. She died in Paris on 31 August 1849, during a cholera epidemic.
