Young Gentleman, called "Monsieur Mahieu"

The portrait of this young man called "Monsieur Mahieu" is an excellent work of the French miniaturist Augustin. Standing out against the plain grey background, the sitter is dressed in a brown coat under which he is wearing a white shirt with white cravat and waistcoat. The artist used a strong laterally entering light to make the picture vivid in spite of the restricted colour chart. The right part of the man's face is strongly illuminated - a means used to emphasize the bright blue colour of his eyes. The other part of his face lies in the shadow to outline the shape of his head. Augustin painted the shades and transitions with a brush stroke which is not visible to the naked eye. The brush stroke reproducing the fair curly hair, however, is clearly recognizable. The sitter's name "Monsieur Mahieu" is recorded in both Augustin's ledger book, the "carnet vert", as well as in a handwritten note of Augustin's grand-niece, referring to this miniature.

¹ Der Eintrag im "carnet vert" des Künstlers lautet: "Mr Mahieu n' a point fait finir son portrait". Möglicherweise hat sich Augustin, dessen Orthographie ohnehin nicht sehr sicher war, in der Schreibweise des Namens geirrt.