Edgar Degas 1865 (ca) Princess Pauline de Metternich
Oil on canvas 41 x 29 cm
The National Gallery, London NG3337. Presented by the National Art Collections Fund, 1918; returned from the Tate Gallery, 1934. Stamped signature of the Degas studio sale. The sitter was the wife of the Austro-Hungarian ambassador at the court of Napoleon III. The portrait is based on a photograph of 1860 which the Prince and Princess used as a visiting card. The floral backdrop was the artist's own invention.