AFTER MARIE-FRANÇOISE-CONSTANCE LA MARTINIÈRE MAYER (PARIS 1775- 1821) AND PIERRE-PAUL PRUD'HON (SAÔNE-ET-LOIRE 1758-1823 PARIS)

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION AFTER MARIE-FRANÇOISE-CONSTANCE LA MARTINIÈRE MAYER (PARIS 1775-1821) AND PIERRE-PAUL PRUD'HON (SAÔNE-ET-LOIRE 1758-1823 PARIS) Constance Mayer, Self-Portrait (with en grisaille after Pierre-Paul Prud'hon) and Verre églomisé surround watercolour 8 x 8 cm After the original c.1793, miniature heightened with grisaille drawings by Pierre-Paul Prud'hon Held by the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne The present painting points to its likely execution during the early-mid 18th century. A well observed copy showing a comparable treatment of light and fine handling of the subject. Mayer studied with Pierre-Paul Prud'hon beginning in 1802, but they did not have the typical pupil-master relationship. In many ways, there were more like peers. They had both exhibited at the salon and unlike Prud'hon, she had received a better education in art, and he was known for his talent in drawing, particularly complex historic compositions. During the time when Prud'hon was painting the portrait of Empress Josephine, his wife, in a fit of jealousy, claimed that he was having an affair with the empress. Prud'hon's wife was held in an asylum and Prud'hon was given custody of their children. After the artist Prud'hon had separated from his wife, the Emperor Napoleon gave him an apartment in the Sorbonne. At about the same time (c. 1803), Napoléon, who had purchased two of her paintings, gave Mayer an apartment there too. There she served as Prud'hon's assistant, raised his five children and was known as his "favorite pupil."Click here to share: