Description
Paul DELAROCHE (Paris, 1797 - 1856) Portrait of Henriette Sontag (1806 - 1854) as Donna Anna in Mozart's "Don Giovanni" Circa 1818 Black pencil and white highlights on tile 36.5 x 28.3 cm. Trained by Antoine-Jean Gros, noticed by Géricault, Paul Delaroche quickly reached success throughout Europe. Dubbed a painter of historical anecdotes, the artist, praised for his great sense of theatricality and psychology, depicted numerous figures and scenes from French history. Here is a portrait of Henriette Sontag, a Franco-German singer, wearing the costume of "Donna Anna" for the performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni. Admired and in demand, the young woman appears here sumptuously dressed and coiffed, adorned with jeweled cuffs. This formidable testimony was a preparation for a painted work formerly kept in Dresden, sadly destroyed during the Second World War. It gives us an idea of the softness and intensity of the gaze that Delaroche was able to convey to his model. Our drawing can also be compared with the artist's painted bust of the young woman in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg (inv. ??-7462), as well as with the engraving in the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. (inv. 1971.174), which shows the success of the work during the artist's lifetime.
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Paul DELAROCHE (Paris, 1797 - 1856) Portrait of Henriette Sontag (1806 - 1854) as Donna Anna in Mozart's "Don Giovanni" Circa 1818 Black pencil and white highlights on tile 36.5 x 28.3 cm. Trained by Antoine-Jean Gros, noticed by Géricault, Paul Delaroche quickly reached success throughout Europe. Dubbed a painter of historical anecdotes, the artist, praised for his great sense of theatricality and psychology, depicted numerous figures and scenes from French history. Here is a portrait of Henriette Sontag, a Franco-German singer, wearing the costume of "Donna Anna" for the performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni. Admired and in demand, the young woman appears here sumptuously dressed and coiffed, adorned with jeweled cuffs. This formidable testimony was a preparation for a painted work formerly kept in Dresden, sadly destroyed during the Second World War. It gives us an idea of the softness and intensity of the gaze that Delaroche was able to convey to his model. Our drawing can also be compared with the artist's painted bust of the young woman in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg (inv. ??-7462), as well as with the engraving in the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. (inv. 1971.174), which shows the success of the work during the artist's lifetime.
