Ingres became close with the Lethière family while in Rome. Guillaume Guillon Lethière—the father-in-law and grandfather of the sitters in this work—was director of the French Academy there from 1807 to 1816. Rosa Meli was fifteen when she married his son, Alexandre Lethière, and she gave birth to their daughter the following year. In the drawing, she appears self-possessed as she gazes directly outward while propping the infant Letizia against her knee. Ingres’s refined neoclassical style and graphite technique contribute to the serene quality of the double portrait.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Madame Alexandre Lethière and Her Daughter Letizia
Artist:Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (French, Montauban 1780–1867 Paris)
Date:ca. 1815
Medium:Graphite
Dimensions:11 13/16 x 8 11/16 in. (30 x 22.1 cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Bequest of Grace Rainey Rogers, 1943
Object Number:43.85.7
Guillaume de Gontaut-Biron, marquis de Biron; Wildenstein & Co., Inc.; Grace Rainey Rogers(acquired 1940)
Chambre Syndicale de la Curiosité et des Beaux-Arts. "Exposition Ingres," May 8, 1921–June 5, 1921.
Legion of Honor, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "Nineteenth century French drawings, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1947," March 8, 1947–April 6, 1947.
Fogg Museum, Harvard Art Museums. "Ingres Centennial Exhibition, 1867-1967: Drawings, Watercolors, and Oil Sketches from American Collections," February 12, 1967–April 9, 1967.
Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux Arts de la Ville de Paris. "Ingres," October 27, 1967–January 29, 1968.
Paris. Cabinet des dessins, Musée du Louvre. "Dessins français du Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York de David à Picasso," October 25, 1973–January 7, 1974.
London. National Gallery. "Portraits by Ingres: Image of an Epoch," January 27–April 25, 1999.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Portraits by Ingres: Image of an Epoch," October 5, 1999–January 2, 2000.
Musée du Louvre, Paris. "Ingres, 1780-1867," February 20, 2006–May 15, 2006.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Innocence and Experience: Selections from the Department of Drawings and Prints," February 9, 2023–May 16, 2023.
Musée du Louvre. "Guillaume Lethière and his Worlds," November 14, 2024–February 17, 2025.
Naef 1999
Pierre-Jules-Theophile Gautier "Ingres." La Renaissance de l'art français. vol. 4, Paris, May 1921, p. 229, ill.
Henri Lapauze Exposition Ingres. Exh. cat., Paris, Chambre Syndicale de la Curiosité et des Beaux-Arts, May 8-June 5, 1921. Paris, 1921, cat. no. 66, fig. no. pl. 66, p. 30.
Louise Burroughs "Drawings by Ingres." in The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. vol. 4, New York, February 1946, p. 159, ill.
Daniel Ternois Les dessins d'Ingres au Musée de Montauban, les portraits. Inventaire général des dessins des Musées de province. vol. 3, Paris, 1959, cat. no. 63.
Hans Naef "Ingres und die Familie Guillon Lethière." in DU, Zürich. Zürich, December 1963.
Agnes Mongan, Hans Naef Ingres Centennial Exhibition, 1867-1967. Exh. cat., Feb. 12-April 9. Fogg Museum, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1967, cat. no. 31, ill.
Anonymous Donor "A Gala Opening at the Fogg." Harvard Alumni Bulletin. 1967, p. 25.
Hans Naef "Ingres als Bildniszeichner" in Neue Zürcher Zeitung, section Literatur und Kunst. no. 331, Fernausgabe, December 2, 1967, p. 20, ill.
Marjorie B. Cohn "Profile Portrait of Guillaume Guillon Lethière by J.A.D. Ingres." Fogg Art Museum Acquistions, 1966-1967. Cambridge, MA, 1968, pp. 54-59.
Michael Levey "Ingres at Cambridge and Paris." in Master Drawings. vol. 6, no. 1, 1968, fig. no. pl. 33, p. 44, ill.
Jean-Marie Paisse "Ingres et le portrait d'enfant." Bulletin du Musée Ingres. no. 24, December 1968, pp. 17-23.
Lise Duclaux, M. J. Foucart, Hans Naef, Maurice Sérullaz, Daniel Ternois Ingres. Exh. cat., October 27, 1967-January 29, 1968. Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux Arts de la Ville de Paris, Paris, 1968, cat. no. 81, 82, pp. 116-118, ill.
Agnes Mongan "Ingres as a Great Portrait Draughtsman." Colloque Ingres. Montauban, 1969.
Linda Boyer Gillies, Colta Ives, Jacob Bean Classicism and Romanticism: French Drawings and Prints, 1800-1860. Ex. cat. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1970, cat. no. 46, p. 8.
Jean-Marie Paisse "Esquisse d'une analyse psychologique du portrait de la famille Alexandre Letheière." Bulletin du Musée Ingres. no. 30, December 1971.
Jacob Bean, Linda Boyer Gillies, Cynthia Lambros, Roseline Bacou, Réunion des Musées Nationaux Dessins français du Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: de David à Picasso 54th Exposition de Cabinet des Dessins Musée du Louvre, 25 octobre 1973–7 janvier 1974. Paris, 1973.
Madeleine Delpierre "Ingres et la mode de son temps (d'après ses portraits dessinés)" Bullletin du Musée Ingres. no. 37, July 1975.
Hans Naef Die Bildniszeichnungen von J.-A.-D. Ingres. 4 vols., Bern, 1977-1980, vol. 14, pp. 139, 252, Kat. 139; vol. I, p. 412, Abb. 11, ill.
James David Draper, Clare Le Corbeiller The Arts Under Napoleon. Exh. cat. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1978, cat. no. 61.
Barbara Burn Metropolitan Children. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1984, pp. 8, 9, 106, ill.
Gary Tinterow, Philip Conisbee, Christopher Riopelle, Hans Naef, Robert Rosenblum, Andrew Carrington Shelton, Georges Vigne, Rebecca A. Rabinow Portraits by Ingres: Image of an Epoch. Exh. cat., National Gallery, London, January 27-April 25, 1999, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., May 23-August 22, 1999, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, October 5, 1999-January 2, 2000. New York, 1999, cat. no. 54, fig. no. 54, p. 186, ill.
Pierre Rosenberg, Perrin Stein, Elizabeth E. Barker, George R. Goldner, Alain-Charles Gruber, Colta Ives, Asher Ethan Miller, Sabine Rewald, Gary Tinterow The Wrightsman Pictures. Everett Fahy, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2005, cat. no. under 81, fig. no. 5, p. 302, ill.
Vincent Pomarède, Stéphane Guégan, Louis-Antoine Prat, Eric Bertin Ingres, 1780-1867. Exh. cat., Musée du Louvre, Paris, February 24-May 15, 2006. Paris, 2006, cat. no. 58, pp. 204-206, ill.
Guillame Lethiere. Esther Bell, and Olivier Meslay , eds., Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA, 2024, cat. no. 77, pp. 33, 72, 121, 325, ill.
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