Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne the Younger
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
unframed: 37.4 × 44.1 cm · framed: 58.6 × 51.9 × 5.7 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
European Painting and Sculpture
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Bequest of Dr. Paul J. Vignos Jr.
Accession Number
2011.49
Tags
About this artwork
This signed portrait reinterprets a well-known pastel by Maurice-Quentin de La Tour of the important French sculptor Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne the younger (1704–1778). The sculptor, seen toward the end of his life, appears in working garb. His close-cropped grey hair, frank, observant stare, and bemused smile all demonstrate the closeness of the young painter to the elder sculptor. The work also speaks to Vigée-LeBrun’s interest in naturalistic portraiture (as opposed to her more formal, commissione...