s of mine, were the cause of Joseph Vernet's decision to propose
me as a member of the Royal Academy of Painting. M. Pierre, then first
Painter to the King, made strong opposition, not wishing, he said,
that women should be admitted, although Mme. Vallayer-Coster, who
painted flowers beautifully, had already been admitted, and I think
Mme. Vien had been, too. M. Pierre, a very mediocre painter, was a
clever man. Besides, he was rich, and this enabled him to entertain
artists luxuriously. Artists were not so well off in those days as
they are now. His opposition might have become fatal to me if all true
picture-lovers had not been associated with the Academy, and if
they had not formed a cabal, in my favour, against M. Pierre's. At
last I was admitted, and presented my picture "Peace Bringing Back
Plenty."

[Illustration: MME. LEBRUN, THE AUTHORESS, NEE ELISABETH VIGEE.]

I continued to paint furiously, sometimes taking three sittings in the
course of a single day. After-dinner sittings, which fatigued me
extremely, brought about a disorder of my stomach, so that I could
digest nothing and became wretchedly thin. My friends made me consult
a doctor, who ordered me to sleep every day after dinner. At first it
was some trouble to me to follow this habit, but by remaining in my
room with the blinds down I gradually succeeded. I am persuaded that I
owe my life to this rule. All I regret about that enforced rest is
that it deprived me for good and all of the amusement of dining in
town, and as I devoted the whole morning to painting I never was able
to see my friends until the evening. Then, it is true, none of the
pleasures of society were closed to me, for I spent my evenings in the
politest and most accomplished circles.

After my marriage I still lived in the Rue de Clery, where M. Lebrun
had large, richly furnished apartments and kept his pictures by all
the great masters. As for myself, I was reduced to occupying a small
anteroom, and a bedroom, which also served for my drawing-room. This
was unpretentiously papered and furnished, and there I received my
visitors from town and court. Every one was eager to come to my
evening parties, which were sometimes so crowded that marshals of
France sat on the floor for want of chairs. I remember that the
Marshal de Noailles, who was very stout and very old, one evening had
the greatest difficulty in getting up again.

I was fond of flattering myself, of course, that all these