French school of the late eighteenth century-early nineteenth century.

French school of the late eighteenth century-early nineteenth century.
Circle of MARIE-VICTORIE LEMOINE (1754-1820).
"Female portrait or allegory of art".
Oil on canvas. Restored
Measurements: 121 x 81,5 cm; 141 x 102 x 7,5 cm (frame).

This anonymous portrait of the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century has a number of characteristics that allow linking it to the circle of Marie-Victoire Lemoine and the style of Henri-Pierre Danloux, two French neoclassical painters. A female figure appears reclining between two statues. On one of them, a fragment of Greek sculpture, she rests her arm. With her right hand she points to the plinth on which rests the other effigy, which glows with an ethereal halo, and which bears the values of art according to neoclassicism: "Eternity, Purity". The fine Ivorian features of the lady, with her puffy cheeks and black eyes, recall some of Lemoine's female portraits, characterized by a soft treatment of the skin and a delicate modeling of the facial oval, which here is framed by curly hair. Quality transparencies and glazes have been achieved in the rendering of the flesh tones and fabrics. Likewise, the atmospheric effect of the silver light of the twilight reminds us of some of Danloux's melancholic and mysterious scenographies. The architectural background reinforces the sensation of a timeless space, evoking classical antiquity as an aesthetic ideal. This portrait fits within late neoclassicism, with a balance between the classicist idealism of Lemoine and the more narrative and symbolic approach of Danloux. Its meaning could be related to the allegory of painting or art, exalting the relationship between the female figure and the Greco-Roman sculptural tradition.