Jean-Baptiste Joseph DUCHESNE dit de GISORS (Gisors, 1770 - Paris, 1856), attribué à

Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known as Molière (1622-1673). Oval miniature painted on enamel on copper, unsigned, representing the actor Molière in bust, in the role of César in the play "La Mort de Pompée" by Corneille, after the 1658 portrait attributed to Nicolas Mignard (Museum of Romantic Life), encircled with gilt bronze. Good condition. Around 1840. H : 6 - W : 5 cm History : Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Duchesne known as Duchesne de Gisors was a painter of miniatures, especially on enamel. His fame was particularly important during the Empire when he painted the portrait of Napoleon for Marie-Louise and then during the Restoration with a famous portrait of the Duchess of Berry in 1822. According to Henri Clouzot, in 1840 the government asked Duchesne to complete Petitot's collection of portraits on enamel for the Louvre, to create "an unalterable pantheon of great men" (see "La miniature sur émail en France", Paris, n.d., p. 175). Although this project was aborted by the 1848 Revolution, it is possible that the artist painted Molière on enamel during this period.