Lot 1586 D α

Jeanne Philiberte Ledoux was born in 1767 and apprenticed under Jean-Baptiste Greuze, whose influence is clearly evident in many of this painter's works (for example Lempertz auction 987, Cologne, 19.11.2011, lot 1324). Like Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Ledoux specialised in portraits and was renowned for both her large scale works and her miniatures. In her expertise, Raffaella Colace compares the present depiction of a young man to another work entitled "Woman at Prayer" kept in the Bowes Museum in Bernard Castle, and praises the elegance, realism and empathy shown in this informal portrait.