Detail of Madame de Richemont and her Son by Benoist in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, January 2022tail MetMuseum Jan 2022

Title: Madame Philippe Panon Desbassayns de Richemont (Jeanne Eglé Mourgue, 1778–1855) and Her Son, Eugène (1800–1859)

Artist: Marie Guillelmine Benoist (French, Paris 1768–1826 Paris)

Date: 1802

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 46 x 35 1/4 in. (116.8 x 89.5 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Gift of Julia A. Berwind, 1953

Accession Number: 53.61.4

Once attributed to David, this portrait is actually by his pupil, Marie Guillelmine Benoist. David taught a significant number of women artists whose works were made newly visible to the public through the Salon, which prior to the French Revolution had severely restricted submissions by women. This portrait of Jeanne Eglé Fulcrande Catherine Mourgue, called Égle, and her son was probably shown at the Salon of 1802. The sitter’s husband, Philippe Panon Desbassayns de Richemont (1774–1840) enjoyed a successful administrative and diplomatic career under the Consulat, Empire, and Restoration governments.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/435650