Terms and conditions of use
Césarine de Houdetot, Baronne de Barante, reading Paul et Virginie
1818
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
193.5 × 143.0 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with funds donated by Peter and Anne Greenham, Ross Adler AC and Fiona Adler, Alan and Mavourneen Cowen, donors to the 2017 NGV Foundation Annual Dinner and 2017 NGV Annual Appeal, 2018
Gallery location
17th to 18th Century European Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
Louise Bouteiller was born to a wealthy French plantation owner in Haiti and trained in Paris. Bouteiller’s accomplished and lusciously coloured paintings were treasured by the French nobility. The sitter in this full-length portrait is the young aristocrat, Césarine de Houdetot, Baronne de Barante (1794–1877), who until the age of four lived in the French colony of Mauritius, where her grandfather was director of the Botanical Gardens of Pamplemousses. Césarine is shown aged twenty-three, lost in reverie while holding a copy of the popular novel Paul et Virginie, which is set in Mauritius. In her Indian muslin gown and paisley shawl she resembles a fashionable bloom in a tropical-paradise setting. In the background is a lush Mauritian landscape.
Frame: reproduction, 2017, based on a French Directoire frame.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
France
Inscription
inscribed in brown paint l.l.: Louise Bouteiller / 1818
Accession Number
2018.187
Department
International Painting
Subjects (general)
Landscapes Portraits
Subjects (specific)
baronesses books headscarves Mauritius (nation) nobles (aristocrats) reading (activity) seated figures women (female humans)
Frame
Reproduction, 2017, based on a French Directoire frame.
This project has been generously supported by NGV Foundation Board member Krystyna Campbell-Pretty.
Frame
Early postcard images of the Salon at Château de Barante (the family home of the sitter) show the painting framed as part of the architectural setting rather than in a stand-alone frame. The painting was purchased unframed and a reproduction frame was commissioned and fitted to the painting in the U.K. prior to its transport to Melbourne. The reproduction frame is based on an early 19th century French Directoire style frame. It has a timber scotia profile, moulded ornament and a gilded finish.
This frame has been generously supported by Krystyna Campbell-Pretty, Member, NGV Foundation Board.
Frame Details
Framemaker
Reproduction - commissioned by the NGV
Date
2017