But what to Mme. Le Brun was of great importance during her stay at Antwerp was a portrait by Rubens, the famous Chapeau de Paille, then in a private collection, where she saw and was fascinated by it. The effect of light and shade caused by the arrangement of the two different lights, the ordinary [50] light and the sunlight, was what chiefly struck her, and having studied the picture with deep attention she proceeded, on returning to Brussels, to paint her own portrait with the same kind of effect: wearing a straw hat with a wreath of wild flowers, and holding a palette in her hand.Will they ever return? she asked, to which he replied
Director
I heard you were intending to emigrate with the ci-devant Marquis de Fontenay.It was then she made her well-known answer to Bailly, Jai tout vu, tout su, et tout oubli.[277]