Red chalk

At the time David painted his portrait, Juliette Récamier was 23 years old. Famous for its beauty and spirit, it brings together the brilliant Parisian company in its private mansion on rue du Mont-Blanc. Soon considered one of the main centres of opposition to the First Consul Bonaparte, his salon was closed in 1803 on the orders of the government.
David makes a portrait without decoration or artifice. It is an ideal portrait of an era that expresses itself through a refined simplicity, a refined taste; a portrait with subtle psychology and paints a picture with a "singular blend of realism and ideal", according to Delacroix. By the painter's will, the painting remains unfinished. Despite the reasons that led David to say to his sponsor: "Madam, women have their whims, so do artists. Let me satisfy mine. I leave your portrait as it is", the portrait is perfect and its very incompleteness has become aesthetic.

The engraved reproduction of Madame Récamier de David's painting was made for the Chalcographie du Louvre in 1877.