The act of creating art is a human partaking in the Divine Creation. The artist reveals a part of their soul and of the subject’s soul, as well as sharing in the glory of God’s creation. It is unfortunate then that non-male artists have been given less of a platform and less of voice through the centuries, as this gives us only one gender’s perspective into the beauty of created order. The notion of the male gaze goes back to antiquity, perhaps nowhere more clearly explored than the myth of Orpheus, when a woman’s life and future is dependent upon a man controlling his gaze. In Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Marianne (Noémie Merlant) and Héloïse (Adèle Haenel) discuss the significance of Orpheus’ fatal glance back on Eurydice, and whether he was freeing her or consigning her to damnation.
The aforementioned conversation occurs midway through the painter Marianne’s visit to paint a portrait of Héloïse that will seal her arranged marriage. The friendship and attraction that forms between the two women, artist and subject, over the course of that visit complicates things as might be expected. What is so extraordinary about Céline Sciamma’s drama is the patient contrast of the female gaze with the male gaze.
If Marianne is the artist who shares in the act of Creation through her talent and vocation, what does that say of Héloïse? Indeed, the first several attempts at painting Héloïse are clouded in secrecy, deeply influenced by the training of male teachers, and fall short of the spark found in transformative art. However, art can transform its artist and subject as well as its viewers, and Portrait of a Lady on Fire is the story of that transformation—of seeing a person as they are, of how to capture the world in its beauty, grandeur, and sorrow, and most poignantly, how art can lay bare the soul of anyone who partakes in it.
It is worth noting when Héloïse submits herself to pose as fulfillment of her societal expectations and which painting the title of the film refers to. There are many beautiful works of art that stir emotions. There are few that transcend them. I firmly believe that this film, like its titular painting, is one of the latter. That is largely due to Sciamma’s awareness of art and film history and how she subverts centuries of seeing others. Human gaze is powerful and a portal to the soul. What Marianne’s and Héloïse’s gazes reveal is unspoken. Overlooked views can be just as important and breathtaking as traditionally accepted gazes, and more critically, the overlooked gazes are some of the most important in showing the beauty of all creation.
— Evalyn Cogswell (2026)
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