"Portrait of the Marquis de Miramon" by James Tissot, 1836-1902

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Portrait of the Marquise de Miramon, née, Thérèse Feuillant

James Tissot, 1836-1902

1866

Oil on canvas

128.3 x 77.2 cm (50 1/2 x 30 3/8 in.)

Collection: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

From the collection's own account, we learn that Thérèse-Stephanie-Sophie Feuillant (1836-1912) was an heiress from a wealthy bourgeois family, now the wife of René de Cassagnes de Beaufort, Marquis de Miramon. James Tissot has depicted her leaning against a mantlepiece in "a rose colored, ruffled peignoir, or dressing gown," in her husband's family seat, the Château de Paulhac, Auvergne. [Commentary continues below.]

Image kindly made freely available by the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. [Click on image to enlarge it.]

Text by Jacqueline Banerjee

At first, the main interest of the painting seems to be the rich colour and minute detail of the Marquise's gown, which is set off at the neck by a loosely-tied black lace scarf with a silver cross pinned to it, and lower down by the white glove on her right hand, as well as by the delicate white of the garment peeping out at the end of the sleeve and elsewhere. But without the subject's poise, and certain unsmiling hauteur, this would all be meaningless. It is the way the Marquise carries it off that matters, holding the peignoir close with the gloved hand. Everything around her, from the bust and flowers on the mantlepiece, to the low Japanese screen behind her and some needlework on a stool, indicates a cultured, leisured, aristocratic way of life, in which she is evidently, and supremely, at home. However, there is nothing in her face to indicate happiness. As usual, and even in this early painting, Tissot has hinted at something ambiguous, even mysterious here. Tissot liked painting fashionable young women, but the fact that he asked and gained permission to show this particular work at the Paris World Fair in 1866 suggests that he was especially pleased with its execution, and perhaps also with its subtlety.

Bibliography

"Portrait of the Marquise de Miramon, n�e, Th�r�se Feuillant." The J. Paul Getty Museum. Web. 19 January 2018.

28 March 2018