ACEO, 2.5 x 3.5 inches, watercolor and gouache, September 2007


Born Gabrielle de Polastron in 1749, she was married to Jules, Comte de Polignac when she was eighteen. First presented at court in 1775, she quickly became friends with Marie Antoinette, eclipsing the Princesse de Lamballe to an extent. Gabrielle's whole family did very well out of the friendship, their debts paid and gaining prominent positions at court. This became a source of resentment from other aristocratic families as well as the country at large and pornographic pamphlets appeared claiming they were indulging in a lesbian affair. Though they remained friends, by the late 1780's Gabrielle found her influence waning - the Polignacs cost too much to keep. In 1789 after the start of the revolution she fled to Switzerland, though she remained in contact through letters. She died of cancer in 1793, two months after Marie Antoinette's execution.