François GÉRARD known as BARON GÉRARD (1770-1837) and WORKSHOP Portrait of Giuseppa Carcano, Marchioness of Visconti di Borgorato (1760 - 1840) Original canvas 32.8x22.5cm Reprise du ricordo du Baron GÉRARD conserved at the Musée national du château de Versailles et du Trianon (Canvas, 32x22cm. See the catalog des peintures du musée national du château de Versailles Paris, 1995, n°2102). Baron GÉRARD's painting, which served as a model for the Versailles ricordo, was exhibited at the 1810 Salon (no. 354) and is now in the Louvre (canvas, 226.5x146cm). Giuseppa Carcano Marquise Visconti (1760-1840) was born into a prominent Milanese noble family. She married Marquis Francesco Visconti. Distinguished by her wit and beauty, she embarked on an affair with Napoleon's aide-de-camp, later Maréchal Berthier. She moved to Paris, where she made a great impression and befriended Empress Josephine. She pursued her passionate relationship, and her fiery love letters to the marshal were widely criticized in the English press of the time. 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".