Marie-Thérèse Reboul (Madame Vien): More than a Footnote in Art History

In 1757, Marie-Thérèse Reboul (1738-1806) was the first woman in forty years to be accepted into the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture. Yet Reboul makes only brief and occasional appearances in art history, almost always as the wife of the leading academician, Joseph Vien. This essay expands on the idea mentioned in passing by Vien scholars, that Reboul contributed to her husband’s work. It argues that the couple’s various collaborations can be understood as an ideal form of companionship and an expression of their reciprocal love. Reboul’s own engagements with art and natural history and the networks of sociability associated with them are also considered as a key area in which women were active in image production.