Portrait of Marie Legentil

From the Getty Museum record

By the late 1850s, Hippolyte Flandrin was one of France’s most sought-after portraitists. He was well acquainted with the sitter of this acclaimed portrait through his master, [Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres][1], who had a longstanding relationship with her family. With her hands gently clasped in her lap, Marie Legentil sits in evening attire on a yellow silk chair draped with fur, before a deep-blue damask wall covering. Her low, lace-trimmed bodice reveals the luminous skin of her chest, shoulders and arms, which Flandrin, emulating Ingres, has modeled with exquisite subtlety. During its exhibition at the Salon in 1857, enamored critics praised the elegant beauty and dignified restraint of the portrait. Although the delicate veil behind her head indicates Marie’s marital status, her likeness was shown alone, without the [companion portrait][2] of her husband, which was only painted the following year. Like her husband, Mme Legentil had strong religious convictions and pursued her own philanthropic initiatives, dedicating herself in particular to the vocational training of young women. [1]: https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/person/103K55 [2]: https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/1SN2ZT