Les Adieux de Cinq-Mars à Marie d'Entraigues or le Baiser du départ

Claudius Jacquand's Les Adieux de Cinq-Mars (1836) illustrates the farewell of the young conspirator Henri Coiffier de Ruzé, Marquis of Cinq-Mars, to his beloved Marie de Gonzague before his arrest and execution in 1642. The story of Cinq-Mars — a favourite of Louis XIII who conspired against Cardinal Richelieu — had been romanticized by Alfred de Vigny in his novel Cinq-Mars (1826), one of the foundational texts of French Romantic historical fiction. Jacquand was drawn to such charged moments of farewell and departure, and the subject allowed him to combine historical narrative with intimate emotional drama in the manner the Romantic Salon most rewarded.

Jacquand organizes the scene around the tender gesture of parting — the clasped hands, the turned faces — framed by the architecture of a period interior. The palette is warm with rich reds and blues characteristic of his theatrical historical scenes; the handling is smooth and detailed, ensuring that period costumes and setting are legible and accurate.