Page 45 - Revolution Republique Empire Restauration

MERRY-JOSEPH BLONDEL
Paris 1781 – 1853 Paris
Portrait of Félicité-Louise-Julie-Constance de Durfort,
Maréchale de Beurnonville
Oil on Canvas: 194.3 x 130 cm (76 1/2 x 51 1/8 in)
Signed and dated: Blondel 1808/13
PROVENANCE:
La Maréchale-Marquise de Beurnonville 1807-
1870;
Etienne, Baron de Martin-Beurnonville 1870-
1886;
Gustave, 1st Count de Reiset1 (1886-1905);
Henry, 2nd Count de Reiset, by descent in the
Reiset family at the Château de Breuil until 1998.
EXHIBITED:
Paris, Salon, 1808.
I n this elegant, but unpretentious life-sized
portrait Blondel depicts Félicité-Louise de
Durfort (1782-1872), the young wife of
Pierre Riel, standing upon a garden terrace.
She leans casually with her left arm on the large
wooden planter of an orange tree in full fruit,
whose selective shade leaves her, for the most part,
bathed in a gentle sunlit glow. She wears a simple
1. Created a Papal Count 1842.
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high-waisted diaphanous white dress trimmed with
gold ribbons. An Indian Kashmir inspired shawl, the
height of fashion at this period, in creamy cashmere
embroidered with paisleys is draped over her right
arm and trails at her feet, which are adorned with
white satin slippers with ribbons laced around her
tiny crossed ankles. Her black hair is parted, curled
at the temples, and gathered simply atop her head
with a gold ribbon or diadem. She holds a sprig of
pale pink roses in her right hand. Her gaze is calm,
demure, but direct. At left, steps guide the eye to a
path winding to a distant view of the Château of
Balincourt in the background. Pierre Riel, who was
some thirty years older than his bride, acquired the
house in 1803 just two years before their wedding,
and as the new chatelaine, Félicité supervised a
complete redecoration of the château in the Empire
style at every expense her husband’s considerable
fortune afforded.
Unlike his wife’s family, which on both sides, was