Boutet de Monvel earned much of his contemporary fame for his photorealistic society portraits. The chic Duchesse de Brissac, née armaments heiress Marie-Zélie Schneider, sat for the artist in 1945 at his Paris home wearing a silk dress and emeralds and leaning against a lacquered cabinet. (https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/a-preview-of-the-boutet-de-monvel-sothebys-auction?mbid=social_facebook) Bernard Boutet de Monvel realized a first, larger, version of this portrait for the Brissac family castle in 1945 (kept at the Château de Brissac). The duchesse de Brissac, born Marie Schneider, was a wealthy heiress. (http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2016/collection-boutet-de-monvel-pf1639/lot.20.html)