Study for "Louise Vernet on Her Death Bed"
(18th and 19th Centuries )
Paul Delaroche created a convincing and transcendent image of his dead wife in "Louise Vernet on her Death Bed." Louise lays blissfully in profile, as both her mouth and right eye remain slightly open. Her elevated head rests on two pillows, as locks of her hair fall vertically to her shoulder and drape diagonally across her bosom. Delaroche carefully defined each curl, delineating individual hairs and shimmering highlights, in Louise's palpable coiffure. Her pale skin and her lifeless body indicate that she is deceased. Rather than present the sordid details of death by fever, Delaroche conveyed Christian triumph over death, as a halo emerges from the dark background to encircle his wife's beautiful head. This drawing is an angelic effigy.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Goupil, Paris (?); William T. Walters, Baltimore, May 18, 1867 (?), by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894, by inheritance; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
2005-2006 | The Essence of Line: French Drawings from Ingres to Degas. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore; Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham; Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma. |
Conservation
Date | Description | Narrative |
---|---|---|
1/1/2002 | Treatment | examined for exhibition; cleaned; mounted; other |
Geographies
France (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 5 7/8 x W: 6 3/4 in. (14.9 x 17.1 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by William T. Walters, 1867 (?)
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.1379