This is a detail from a painting by the very fine French artist Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun (1755-1842), who was not only extremely beautiful herself but also painted many famously beautiful French women, including Marie Antoinette, whose court painter she was for a few years.
In fact the lady in the picture, the Baronne de Crusol, is not actually reading, as you can see from the complete image below -- but I thought it would be fun to show you the detail for a change.
