Saturday, March 10, 2012

Jeff's Met Picks: Ingres

Joséphine-Éléonore-Marie-Pauline de Galard de Brassac de Béarn (1825–1860), Princesse de Broglie
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres  (French, Montauban 1780–1867 Paris)





Ingres' mastery of his medium defies my vocabulary. The sheen of the silk, the airy lace about her head, the grace of her hands, and the serenity in her radiant face are all rendered exquisitely. That this woman, the Princesse of Broglie, would be dead in just a few years from tuberculosis, adds an element of sadness to the painting that I find so interesting. There is a knowing mortality to her enigmatic expression. But luckily for us, Ingres has made her eternal in her spot in the Robert Lehman Collection at The Met.

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