Madame Catherine Bruguière, née Sardon

This 1796 portrait of Madame Catherine Bruguière at Bristol depicts the wife of the Marseilles shipowner, forming a pendant to the husband’s portrait at the Louvre. The couple’s portraits document the prosperous Mediterranean merchant class that Gros encountered during his Italian years. Gros's richly colored oil technique bridged David's classical severity—in which he had been trained—with the Romantic colorism that Delacroix would develop in his wake, using warm, vibrant flesh tones and...

The female portrait shows Gros’s warm treatment of women’s features with careful attention to costume and accessories. The Provençal light of southern France may influence the warm palette.