Jean-François Millet, French 1814-1875

Jean-François Millet executed the present work early in his career as a portraitist, most probably around 1840-1842 whilst living in Cherbourg. His portraits executed in pastel during the 1840s have only relatively recently returned to light primarily because their authorship had long gone unrecognised. Alfred Senier, Millet's first biographer, identified this issue in the 1870s suggesting that the artist worked quickly during the 1840s under intense pressure from patrons and often left his works unsigned. The thick application of pigment points towards the eighteenth century pastel style which formed a significant part of Millet's early inspiration, positioning the work early in the artist's career.