François GERARD, known as BARON GERARD and ATELIER - Lot 55

François GERARD, known as BARON GERARD and ATELIER Portrait of Dorothée de Courlande, Countess of Perigord (1792 - 1862) Original canvas 32.8 x 24.5 cm Numbered on the reverse "4"; Inscriptions on the reverse of the stretcher: "Pcesse de S...". Reprise du ricordo du Baron Gerard conservé au musée national du château de Versailles et du Trianon (Toile, 32 x 22 cm. See catalog of paintings at the Musée National du Château de Versailles, Paris, 1995, no. 2128). The full-length portrait of Gerard, which served as the model for the Versailles ricordo, was executed in 1815 and formerly held in the Courlande collection. Dorothée de Courlande was the fourth daughter of the Duc de Courlande. On April 22, 1809, she married Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord, nephew of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, who had arranged the marriage through Tsar Alexander. This union of a German and a Frenchman also served Napoleon's desire to attract the great European families to France. Dorothée separated from her fickle husband in favor of her uncle, whom she accompanied to the Congress of Vienna in 1814. Duchesse de Dino, Duchesse de Talleyrand, then Princesse de Sagan over the years, she is one of Europe's leading aristocratic figures. We would like to thank Mr. Alain Latreille for sharing his opinion with us: "All these ricordi were produced in the painter's studio under his supervision and sometimes retouched, and are comparable with the set kept at the Château de Versailles, purchased by King Louis-Philippe's civil list at the sale after the painter's death in 1837".