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Secondary sourcePainting

Portrait présumé de Marie-Olympe Aubry de Gouges

Unknown, attributed to Kucharski

A chalk drawing of a young woman's head and shoulders, long considered the standard likeness of Olympe de Gouges.

This attributed likeness is the main image by which Olympe de Gouges is visually remembered today.

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Blue-toned drawing in white and dark chalk of a young woman's head and shoulders, facing forward with a slight smile. She wears a headband with a bow and has curly hair. Handwritten inscription in the upper left corner.
Attributed to Kucharski, presumed portrait of Olympe de Gouges.

About this source

What it is

This is a blue-toned drawing in white and dark chalk showing a young woman facing forward with a slight smile, wearing a headband with a bow and curly hair. It carries a handwritten inscription in the upper left corner and has been attributed to the artist Kucharski. The maker is not certainly known.

Why it matters

This drawing is the presumed portrait from life of Olympe de Gouges and is the image through which she is most widely recognised today. Because so few confirmed images of her survive, this attributed likeness has shaped how later generations picture the playwright and revolutionary activist.

Look closer

  • What mood does the drawing's soft shading and the subject's expression create?
  • Why might historians use the word 'presumed' when describing a portrait like this?
  • What details are missing that would help confirm the identity of the sitter with certainty?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Olympe de Gouges on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Printed page of the 1791 Declaration des droits de la femme et de la citoyenne, with the title in large capitals, a subtitle addressed to the National Assembly, and the opening Preambule paragraphs in French text.Document

Primary source

Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen

Olympe de Gouges · 1791

Painted allegory of the 1789 French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. A title plaque reads 'Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen' above two tablets of text. A seated woman with chains and a standing winged figure with a wand flank the plaque, under a radiant eye in a triangle.Document

Primary source

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

National Constituent Assembly · 1789

Printed broadside titled 'Les Trois Urnes, ou le Salut de la Patrie, par un Voyageur Aérien' in large capitals on an orange-tinted page, with dense multi-column French text below the title.Document

Primary source

Les Trois Urnes, ou le Salut de la Patrie, par un voyageur aérien

Olympe de Gouges · 1793

Pastel-style portrait of a woman with powdered grey hair piled high, wearing a white shawl, against a dark brown and grey background. She has a slight smile and looks toward the viewer.Painting

Primary source

Portrait of Olympe de Gouges

Alexander Kucharsky

Title page scan of the 1793 French text 'Testament politique d'Olympe de Gouges', printed in serif type with a decorative rule above and below the title. The opening paragraph begins with 'O divine providence!' and is partly faded and smudged.Document

Primary source

Testament politique d'Olympe de Gouges

Olympe de Gouges · June 1793

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