Portrait of Eugénie Tripier-Le-Franc (Portrait d'Eugénie Tripier-Le-Franc), or Self-Portrait

This painting encompasses the era’s fascination with antiquity (the Grecian-style gown) and the Sublime (an emotional experience generated by the awesome force of nature), which was a key concept in the burgeoning movement of Romanticism. The painting was exhibited in post-Revolutionary Paris, at a time when the country was gripped by social, economic, and governmental instability. The figure, who wears the colors of the new French republican flag—red hair ribbon, white dress, and blue shawl—may have been understood as an allegorical figure of France, shivering amid the Revolutionary storm.