text: During her stay in Venice she lost yet another fortune, amounting to 35,000 francs, most of which she had accumulated from her commissions in Italy - which she had deposited in the bank of Venice, when French troops, campaigning under the command of the rising general Napoleon Buonaparte, captured the city shortly after she had left it. Le Brun had been repeatedly warned by M. Sacaut, the embassy secretary, to withdraw her money from the bank, foreseeing that French Republican troops might attack the city. The artist dismissed his warnings as 'a republic would never attack another republic'; nevertheless Napoleon later issued an ultimatum to the city to submit, and French troops entered the city. As Venice was looted, General Buonaparte had instructed the banker to spare Le Brun's deposit and afford her an annuity, but the orders were not carried out in the chaotic predicament of the city, and all that reached Vigée Le Brun were two hundred and fifty francs out of an original deposit of 40,000. During her travels in Italy, her name was added to the list of émigrés, losing her French citizenship and having her property scheduled for confiscation. M. Le Brun attempted to have his wife's name struck from the list of émigrés at this juncture by appealing to the Assemblée législative to no avail, and he along with Etienne, Vigée Le Brun's brother, were both briefly incarcerated in 1793, shortly before the terror began. Soon after, M. Le Brun attempted to protect himself and their properties from confiscation and began suing for divorce from his wife. The decree of divorce was issued on 3 June 1793.