This fascinating portrait, dating back to the first decade of the 19^th century, stands out for its high painterly quality. The incredible attention paid to all the details and their tasteful execution is evident at a first glance: the care over the finishing of the suit, the precision with which the score is readable, the depth of the intense look of the subject portrayed. We have no information about the artist or his identity, however, thanks to some blatantly obvious details and the style of the execution, it is possible to precisely locate the work temporally and geographically.

French male fashion at the beginning of the 19^th century was rather characteristic of this precise period, and allows us to restrict the dating of the work to between the last decade of the 1700s and the first years of the 1800s. The subject’s jacket, a so-called “habit dégagé”, was buttoned over the breast and ended at the level of the waistcoat beneath it, that is, at the stomach. The long tails were further back compared to a traditional tailcoat, giving the figure a greater dynamism. The collar of the waistcoat, rigid and raised, reveals a carefully knotted cravat, a little less wide than in previous years. The trousers would cling to the thighs and were inserted into boots, like the military uniforms of the day. A painting by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, dated 1805, on display at the Louvre, provides us with an outstanding reference to the fashion of this period (FIG. 1).

The subject painted is gazing straight at the viewer, clasping the violin in a display of pride and composure. His left hand, with its elegant tapering fingers, is holding the instrument tight, while his right hand is flicking through the pages of a score. His eyes are intense and dreamy, his face looks young, the eyes big and the fleshy lips slightly reddish. Many details of this incredible painting, unquestionably by a French hand, allow us to trace its author to the school of Ingres.

FIG. 1 - Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Monsieur Philibert Rivière, 1805, The Louvre.

Just like many of the portraits produced by the famous French painter, the reflections of light on precious fabrics such as satin and velvet are exalted and enhanced. The great attention to the underdrawing is evident in Ingres’ works as it is in the work being presented here which, given the extreme care and attention to detail seems – in all probability – to have been extensively researched beforehand using drawings.

In fact, it was Ingres’ habit to plan his portraits by making many preliminary drawings.

Although Ingres is considered a painter of historical works, his contemporaries and above all his fellow artists appreciated him above all for his portraits. He refined his portraiture skills during his trip to Italy, which he had the opportunity to take thanks to the important Prix de Rome prize, won in 1801 while studying at the atelier of Jacques-Louis David. At the Académie Française in Rome (in 1806), Ingres had the opportunity to study the works of the great Italian artists, especially Raphael, in whom Ingres appreciated not only the sobriety of his balanced compositions and the gracefulness expressed by the figures, but also the attention to drawing and the use he made of colour. It was in this Roman period that Ingres produced his first portraits, mainly of himself (FIG. 2) and his friends, but also of wealthy Parisian customers. These are works which anticipated the Romantic style in their emotional impulse.

FIG. 2 - Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Autoritratto, 1806

Just like many of the portraits produced by the famous French painter, the reflections of light on precious fabrics such as satin and velvet are exalted and enhanced. The great attention to the underdrawing is evident in Ingres’ works as it is in the work being presented here which, given the extreme care and attention to detail seems – in all probability – to have been extensively researched beforehand using drawings.

In fact, it was Ingres’ habit to plan his portraits by making many preliminary drawings.

Although Ingres is considered a painter of historical works, his contemporaries and above all his fellow artists appreciated him above all for his portraits. He refined his portraiture skills during his trip to Italy, which he had the opportunity to take thanks to the important Prix de Rome prize, won in 1801 while studying at the atelier of Jacques-Louis David. At the Académie Française in Rome (in 1806), Ingres had the opportunity to study the works of the great Italian artists, especially Raphael, in whom Ingres appreciated not only the sobriety of his balanced compositions and the gracefulness expressed by the figures, but also the attention to drawing and the use he made of colour. It was in this Roman period that Ingres produced his first portraits, mainly of himself (FIG. 2) and his friends, but also of wealthy Parisian customers. These are works which anticipated the Romantic style in their emotional impulse.

In our violinist, as in Ingres’ portraits, the man’s character emerges not only from the expression on his face but also from the details of the setting.

The stylistic similarity and the many points of contact between our painting and many of Ingres’ portraits suggest that this artist unknown to us had, somehow or other, entered the circle of the French painter and allowed himself to be inspired by the latter. Ingres is known to have been a very attentive teacher and much appreciated by his numerous students.

One curious fact is that after painting, Ingres’ great passion was music, and he even became second violin in the Orchestre National du Capitole of Toulouse. This passion of his gave rise to a figure of speech in France, whereby “Violon d’Ingres” identifies the passions that each of us pursue lovingly in addition to our own career. Ingres never ever abandoned music, even becoming a friend of Nicholas Paganini, and often playing with other colleagues of his who shared a passion for the same great names of music.