Madame Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, née Madeleine Chapelle

Madame Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, née Madeleine Chapelle by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres is a sensitive and precise graphite drawing created in 1814. Executed on off-white wove paper, this intimate work captures the likeness of Ingres’s first wife, Madeleine Chapelle, whom he married that year during his productive period in Rome.

Ingres was a meticulously skilled draftsman, and this piece exemplifies the rigorous precision characteristic of his mature Neoclassical style. He often used the classification of drawing not merely for preparatory sketches but as finished, self-contained portraits commissioned by patrons, though this particular work is clearly a highly personal study of a woman central to his life. The subtle shading and delicate modeling inherent in the graphite medium emphasize the sitter’s serene expression and the careful rendering of her fashionable dress and the translucent lace of her bonnet.

As a significant example of early 19th-century French portraiture, the rendering of Madame Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, née Madeleine Chapelle provides significant insight into the artist’s mastery of line and his sensitive approach to depicting women. The work highlights the period’s focus on idealized form combined with realistic detail. The original drawing resides within the comprehensive collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Given the historical importance of the artwork and its age, it often falls within the public domain, allowing institutions and collectors to disseminate high-quality prints for study and appreciation worldwide.