Q104444086

Held by the Musée des Beaux-Arts de la ville de Paris (Petit Palais) and dated to 1890, this canvas by Fernand Cormon falls in the period following the Paris Exposition of 1889 and reflects his continued productivity during his tenure as a professor at the École des Beaux-Arts. The Petit Palais holds several works by Cormon as part of its comprehensive documentation of French academic painting from the Second Empire through the Third Republic. By 1890 his reputation rested on the landmark prehistoric paintings of the 1880s and his activity as a teacher whose atelier had produced a remarkable generation of students. His own studio work in the early 1890s ranged across official portraiture, historical subjects, and independent figure compositions. The Petit Palais acquisition of this canvas reflects the institution's consistent support for major figures of the academic tradition even as the critical horizon shifted toward Post-Impressionism and Symbolism.

Cormon's 1890 technique shows the full authority of a mid-career painter at the height of his powers. The oil application is direct and confident, with clear compositional thinking evident in the disposition of light and mass. His 1890 works sometimes show a slightly broader handling than earlier in his career, reflecting the assurance that comes with complete technical mastery.