Louis Mathieu Didier Guillaume

(France/America, 1816-1892)Portrait of a Southern Gentleman, signed lower right "L.M. D. Guillaume", two illegible label fragments verso, oil on canvas, 30 x 25 in.; period carved gilt wood frame, 37-1/2 x 33 in.˜Note: Louis Mathieu Didier Guillaume was active in Richmond from 1857 until 1871, painting portraits and genre scenes.˜ His work includes the famous scene of Lee surrendering to Grant that hangs in the House at Appomattox, as well as six equestrian portraits of˜Confederate leaders.˜ There has been some speculation that this sitter bears some resemblance to a young Jefferson Davis, although the sitter remains unknown.˜˜Provenance: The Valentine Museum, Richmond, Virginia; Property From an Important Virginia Living Estate
Condition Report: original stretcher and tacking edge, crackle, small pin head sized puncture at center of sitter's neck, additional tiny pin hole at upper left background, area of retouch at bridge of nose, small area of abrasion near signature; frame with abrasions,ÿlosses to decoration at edges and corners, evidence of old repair, separation at corners