This miniature is particularly charming in its domestic quality. Madame
de Lamballe is shown in her room, engaged in making a wreath of flowers,
and every detail concerning her occupation, and the room in which she is
seated, is delightfully rendered; but the whole composition is kept so
well in hand that the details do not obtrude, nor in any way draw aside
the attention from the fair countenance of the lady herself.
The work of Pierre Pasquier is very rare, and not a single example of it
is to be seen in the Louvre. He was born in 1731, and died in 1806. He
worked largely in enamel, and a great many of his portraits appear on
the wonderful snuff-boxes which were given to ministers or eminent
diplomatists. Several of them are in Russia. He was distinguished by an
unerring perfection of draughtsmanship, and this is especially set forth
in his profile portraits, one of which, signed and dated, we illustrate
from Mr. Morgan's collection (Plate XXXVIII., No. 2). It is probably the
finest example of Pasquier's work in existence, and is little more than
a sketch in black on ivory, with a steel-blue background, the ivory
being left clear where the portrait appears. We do not know who it
represents, but it was probably a study for an enamel left incomplete.
It is dated 1786, and in its rigid economy of line, exquisite low-toned
scheme of colour, and perfection of drawing, occupies an exceedingly
high place in miniature painting, and leaves us only regretful that we
are ignorant of the name of the sitter.
The example we illustrate of the miniature work of Fragonard must also
be anonymous (Plate XXXVIII., No. 1). It is a boy's portrait, and has
been said, with a certain amount of evidence, to represent one of his
own sons, it certainly does resemble a sketch of one of Fragonard's
children, which the artist has named, but not sufficiently for us to be
sure respecting the accuracy of the attribution. No one, however, but
Fragonard could have painted it, the colour is so daintily placed upon
the ivory as to give the effect of having been wafted upon the material,
and resting upon it with a feathery lightness. There is generally a good
deal of yellow in Fragonard's portraits, or else the colour scheme is
mainly grey and white, and this portrait belongs to the second division
we have mentioned. It is very pleasing, the face of a quiet, thoughtful
child, charmingly represented, and a good example of the work of one of
the greatest decorators France ever knew. Fragonard's miniatures are
rare, we may add, very rare, and probably no one has such a collection
of them as is to be found in the cabinets of Mr. Pierpont Morgan.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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