Slow Art Sunday - Villers

Today, Slow Art Sunday brings you a painting with a bit of mystery and some real detective work required to credit the correct artist!  This beautiful portrait of Charlotte du Val’Ognes was painted by Marie Denise Villers although originally it had been attributed to a prominent French painter named Jacques-Louis David.  In 1947 (almost 150 years later), an astute curator found documentation that this artwork had been in the 1801 Paris Salon Exhibition and confirmed that David had not submitted anything that year.   

After much investigation into the hairstyle, the era of the dress and maps confirming the view was from studios in the Louvre reserved only for women, David was officially removed as artist. Other academic analysis was undertaken but I thought that deciding from the hair and dress were the most interesting!

With Charlotte looking straight into our eyes and the beautiful lighting, a special, personal feel draws us in.  Take some time to look closely and see if it brings up questions for you: why is the window cracked, who are the couple in the distance, was Charlotte herself an artist (there is a wee bit of speculation that this could be a self portrait but fairly firmly decided it was done by Villers).  Enjoy this exquisite artwork.

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