Madame Hippolyte Flandrin (Aimée Ancelot)

Paul Flandrin drew this precise graphite portrait of his brother Hippolyte's widow, Aimée Ancelot, a few years after Hippolyte's death. The Flandrin brothers were both students of the painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867), who was known for his own very precise and technically accomplished graphite portraits. In fact, at some point a false signature of Ingres's name was added on the drawing's left side, where it is still visible. Paul's brother, Hippolyte, is represented in the exhibition by a graphite study made in preparation for a religious painting [cat. no. 32].