Benoît Agnès Trioson Reading the Bible (1797). Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson (French, 1767-1824). Oil on canvas. Musée Girodet.

Presented at the Salon of 1798, the first portrait of Benoît-Agnès shows the child at the age of eight. Immersed in an illustrated Bible, the child seems surprised by the painter who distracts her from her reading. Her expression of melancholy sadness can be explained by the death of her mother in 1795. Girodet’s composition also associates this sadness with the constraint of the study.

Quote from books0977

Who is the Artist?

Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy (or de Roucy), also known as Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson (29 January 1767 – 9 December 1824),^[1] was a French painter and pupil of Jacques-Louis David, who participated in the early Romantic movement … Girodet is remembered for his precise and clear style and for his paintings of members of the Napoleonic family.  wikipedia

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Benoît Agnès Trioson Reading the Bible (1797). Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson (French, 1767-1824). Oil on canvas. Musée Girodet (detail)

Benoît Agnès Trioson Reading the Bible (1797). Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson (French, 1767-1824). Oil on canvas. Musée Girodet (detail)

Benoît Agnès Trioson Reading the Bible (1797). Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson (French, 1767-1824). Oil on canvas. Musée Girodet (detail)

Benoît Agnès Trioson Reading the Bible (1797). Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson (French, 1767-1824). Oil on canvas. Musée Girodet

Painting home: Musée Girodet, Montargis

Image credit: [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons