Claude Alexandre Bélin

Madame Boucher, née Gérardot

Although his works are of good quality and show a great expressiveness, the Paris-born miniature painter Bélin belongs to the lesser known artists of his time ¹ . The lady in this portrait ² is seated in a dark red chair and turns her face towards the observer. Her complexion is reproduced in delicate brownish, tender grey and pink shades and shows a lot of untouched surface, which gives her face a translucent and tender expression. Her curly hair, only slightly tamed by a bandeau, seems to represent a main characteristic of the sitter as well as of the painter' s mastership. Apart from that, her low-cut gown which is tied with a sash is painted with generously broad brush strokes.

J.S.O.

¹ Schidlof 1964, vol. 1, p. 72.

² According to an inscription on the reverse, the portrait shows the wife of a goldsmith who worked at the court of Louis XVI. This could be either Marcellin Boucher, living in Paris either on the Cour Neuve du Palais or the Rue du Harlay 23, or Marcel-Etiennne Boucher, living at the Quai des Orfèvres 14. We are grateful to Mr. René Maître, Paris for his research.