Jean Alphonse Roehn

JEAN ALPHONSE ROEHN (Paris, 1799 -1864).
"Coronation of flowers", 1840.
Oil on canvas.
Signed and dated in the lower left area.
Measurements: 40.5 x 32.5 cm; 63.5 x 57 cm (frame).
In this gallant scene an elegantly dressed young woman sits on a stone bench in a park. A woman behind her arranges in her hair a wreath of fresh colorful flowers to match her pink and beige satin dress. The wreath is not only an aesthetic or perfumed object that enhances the grace of those who wear them around the head, but sometimes carries an allegorical meaning celebrating spring and therefore youth. It is the symbol of the rebirth of nature. It also plays an important role in the game of love. Girls and young women have always worn the crown as a symbol of purity and fertility. The touching simplicity of the crown continues to captivate with its delicacy and poetry. Grace, delicacy, subtlety, refinement: the charm is in this painting. The satin of the dresses shimmers under the beautiful light, illuminating the faces. The work demonstrates great technical mastery, especially in the representation of the fabrics, the delicacy of the faces and the foliage of the trees. The background is equally well elaborated, with the two women in a beautiful wooded park, decorated with sculptures, a fountain, flowers...
Jean Alphonse Roehn (was a French painter and caricaturist. His father was the painter Adolphe Roehn. In 1813, Jean Alphonse entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, where he studied with Jean-Baptiste Regnault and Antoine-Jean Gros. He began exhibiting painting at the 1822 Salon, and in the 1827 Salon he won a second-class medal. He was also a drawing teacher at the Louis-Legrand School. His painting Le braconnier (The poacher) is in the collection of the Louvre.