Lady in White Gown with Lilac Blossom

The Genevese miniature painter Louis Sené lived in Paris during the 1780s but left the city around 1789 and returned to his hometown. He moved to Paris in 1792 again, where this attractive portrait of a lady with lilac blossom was probably created ¹ . Sené chose park scenery with high trees as a background and surrounded the lady' s head with a blue sky, which gives her a certain grandeur ² . Though he often reproduced the sitter' s hands they usually give an awkward impression. However, this lack of quality is more than balanced by the beautifully painted bust, the clothes and the details of the background.

B.P.

¹ Obviously Sené reached a certain prosperity in the following years. Cf. Genoud 1999, pp. 19 and 34.

² For similar works by Sené, cf. cat.-no. 134 and 135.