''Portrait of Madame de Senonnes'' (once known as ''La Trastéverine'') is an 1816 painting by

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres ( , ; 29 August 1780 – 14 January 1867) was a French Neoclassicism, Neoclassical Painting, painter. Ingres was profoundly influenced by past artistic traditions and aspired to become the guardian of academic ...

. It shows Madame de Senonnes, née Marie-Genevieve-Marguerite Marcoz,

viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

ess of

Senonnes Senonnes () is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France. Geography The Semnon flows westward through the southern part of the commune, crosses the village, then forms most of the commune's south-western border. See also *Comm ...

(1783–1828). Marcoz was 31 when the portrait was completed. Ingres had earlier portrayed her in a drawing of 1813. The portrait is considered one of Ingres' finest. Because she was significantly attractive and aristocratic, Ingres, who professed to disdain portraiture but who needed the income it provided, put great effort into the work in the hope of attracting other commissions.Conisbee, 150 ''Portrait of Madame de Senonnes'' is part of the collection of ''Le tableau fait partie des collections'' at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes.

Marie-Geneviève-Marguerite Marcoz

Born into a relatively wealthy family, she married Jean Marcoz, a merchant draper, in 1802, and they moved to Rome in 1803, and had a daughter, Geneviève-Amélina Talensier that year. However, the marriage was unhappy, and they separated in 1809. Talensier left Rome to fight in the French army, and was wounded twice.Conisbee, 148 She began to socialise in artistic circles, passing herself off as Italian. Marcoz met Alexandre de La Motte-Baracé, Viscount of Senonne, and they married in 1815, the year after their return to France. After her death in 1828, the portrait remained in the possession of her husband until 1831, when, pursued by creditors, he sent it to his elder brother, the

Marquis A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...

de Senonnes, where it was kept in his castle in

Feneu Feneu () is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. See also *Communes of the Maine-et-Loire department The following is a list of the 177 communes of the Maine-et-Loire department of France. The communes cooperate in ...

, in the west of France. The painting remained there until 1852, when it was sold to an art dealer.Conisbee, 151 It was acquired in 1853 by the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes for 4,000

franc The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (Style of the French sovereign, King of the Franks) used on early France, ...

Description

Marcoz is shown in a seductiveRosenblum, 88 and languid pose on a sofa, her hair tightly pulled back. She is dressed in a low cut luxurious velvet

gown A gown, from the Saxon word, ''gunna'', is a usually loose outer garment from knee-to-full-length worn by men and women in Europe from the Early Middle Ages to the 17th century, and continuing today in certain professions; later, the term ''gown ...

trimmed with

ochre Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...

, Indian

muslin Muslin () is a cotton fabric of plain weave. It is made in a wide range of weights from delicate sheers to coarse sheeting. It gets its name from the city of Mosul, Iraq, where it was first manufactured. Muslin of uncommonly delicate handsp ...

, a blond lace collar, and transparent

lace Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is divided into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...

, and with a white cashmere

shawl A shawl (from fa, شال ''shāl'',) is a simple item of clothing from Kashmir, loosely worn over the shoulders, upper body and arms, and sometimes also over the head. It is usually a rectangular or square piece of cloth, which is often folded ...

. She is painted in bright red and gold colors, against a large, dark circular, mirror, lit by candle light, that reflects the back of her head and, especially, the curve of her neck. Her hands, which contain thirteen pale red and green jewel studded ring, caresses a white pillow and handkerchief. As with all of Ingres' female portraits, the sitter seems limbless, as if her body was not supported by a bone structure. The work is Ingres' first to fully explore the use of a mirror, and the additional spatial space it allows, earlier seen but not as successfully, in the 1805 ''Mademoiselle Caroline Rivière''.Betzer, 27 His signature is written in the business tucked into the edge of the mirror. A number of small paper studies survive; the earliest of which show her reclining erotically on a sofa, the later sketches focus on the presentation of her upper body and chest. Some art historians have compared it in tone to his ''

Grande Odalisque ''Grande Odalisque'', also known as ''Une Odalisque'' or ''La Grande Odalisque'', is an oil painting of 1814 by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres depicting an odalisque, or concubine. Ingres' contemporaries considered the work to signify Ingres' brea ...

'', which he was working on simultaneously. Among the sources that Ingres took inspiration from were

Jacques-Louis David Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in ...

's ''Portrait of madame de Verninac'' (1799),Betzer, 26 and Leonardo da Vinci's ''

La belle ferronnière ''La Belle Ferronnière'' () is a portrait of a lady, usually attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, in the Louvre. It is also known as ''Portrait of an Unknown Woman.'' The painting's title, applied as early as the seventeenth century, identifying t ...

''.

Gallery

Study for a Portrait of Madame de Senonnes Ingres (c).jpg, ''Study for a Portrait of Madame de Senonnes Ingres'', 1813–14 Study for a Portrait of Madame de Senonnes Ingres (a).jpg, ''Study for a Portrait of Madame de Senonnes'', graphite on paper, 1813–14 Study for a Portrait of Madame de Senonnes Ingres (b).jpg, ''Study for a Portrait of Madame de Senonnes'', graphite on paper, 1813–14 NantesMATissotMmeSenonnes.jpg, Copy in

grisaille Grisaille ( or ; french: grisaille, lit=greyed , from ''gris'' 'grey') is a painting executed entirely in shades of grey or of another neutral greyish colour. It is particularly used in large decorative schemes in imitation of sculpture. Many g ...

James Tissot Jacques Joseph Tissot (; 15 October 1836 – 8 August 1902), anglicized as James Tissot (), was a French painter and illustrator. He was a successful painter of fashionable, modern scenes and society life in Paris before moving to London in 1871 ...

, 1899

References

Notes

Sources

* ''Catalogue des tableaux et statues du Musée de la ville de Nantes'', 6th edition, Imprimerie de Mellinet, 1854. Catalogue n° 481. * Conisbee, Philip. "Rome, 1806-1820". In: Tinterow, Gary; Conisbee, Philip (eds). ''Portraits by Ingres: Image of an Epoch''. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999. *Betzer, Sarah. ''Ingres and the Studio: Women, Painting, History''. Pennsylvania State University Press, 2002. * Rosenblum, Robert. ''Ingres''. London: Harry N. Abrams, 1990. {{Authority control Madame de Senonnes Madame de Senonnes 1814 paintings Paintings in the collection of the Musée d'Arts de Nantes