Fragonard’s so-called fantasy portraits are electric performances: brushed with virtuosity, panache, and speed, he reworked the surface while the paint remained wet, including by incising lines into the large white ruff. The theatrical costume recalls Queen Maria de’ Medici’s court dress from over a century earlier, as depicted in a series of paintings by Peter Paul Rubens that Fragonard saw in the French royal collections. A recently discovered drawing makes it possible to identify this woman as the aristocratic salon hostess Marie Emilie Coignet de Courson. Fragonard’s painterly performance arguably outshines her, however, making this a kind of artist’s self-portrait.
百度翻译：http://fanyi.baidu.com
