Pierre Louis Dubus (1721–1799), Called Préville, of the Comédie-Française

Born in Paris, Massé was the son of a goldsmith and jeweler. He studied with the painter Jean Jouvenet (1644–1717) and was admitted to the Académie Royale in 1717. In 1720 he met, and was influenced by, the Italian artist Rosalba Carriera (1675–1757) when she was in Paris: he is said to have copied a bacchanal by her and, following her example, became one of the first French miniaturists to paint on ivory. Jeanne Étienne Liotard (1702–1789) studied with him, and the Danish miniaturist Cornelius Hoyer (1741–1804) became his pupil in 1764. Massé had an immense reputation during his lifetime, but until recently few works by him were known. A group of portraits sold at Sotheby's, Geneva, November 16, 1989, nos. 8–12, and November 15, 1990, nos. 3–7 (all illustrated in color), gives a clearer picture of his style.

When exhibited in Brussels in 1912, this miniature was described as a portrait by Fragonard of the actor Préville; when sold in 1919, it was catalogued as a portrait of the actor Larive, French school, eighteenth century, on a box of the Louis XVI period. Olivier (1913), however, accepted it as a portrait of Préville, and treated it as a representative example of Fragonard's work, as did Schmid (1913), Boehn (1917), and De Mauri (1918). Comparison with miniatures attributed to Fragonard or his wife, Marie Anne Gérard (1745–1823; see The Met 60.14), shows that this attribution is untenable. The work does, however, resemble the recently discovered portraits by Massé in the excellence of its draftsmanship, the treatment of the costume and the shadows under the sitter's eyes, and the comparative restraint of the brushwork.

Pierre Louis Dubus (1721–1799), the son of a Parisian tradesman, began his career as a traveling player and then took leading comic roles in Strasbourg, Rouen, Dijon, and Lyons. Under his stage name, Préville, he became a leading actor at the Comédie-Française. He made his Paris debut in 1753 and continued to perform with great success until his retirement in 1786. Among his many roles he created the character of Figaro in Le Barbier de Séville (1775) by Beaumarchais.

[2015; adapted from Reynolds and Baetjer 1996]

Mme François Flameng (by 1912–d. 1919; her estate sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, May 26–27, 1919, no. 178, as "Portrait de l'acteur Larive . . . ," French school, 18th century, for Fr 2,050 to Meyer); [Charles E. Slatkin, New York, until 1957; sold to The Met]

Brussels. Hôtel Goffinet. "Exposition de la miniature," March–July 1912, no. 758 (as by Fragonard, lent by M. Flameng, Paris).

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "European Miniatures in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," November 5, 1996–January 5, 1997, no. 39.

Paul Lambotte. "Exposition de la miniature." L'art flamand & hollandais 17, no. 5 (1912), ill. opp. p. 152 [published in Dutch in Onze Kunst 21 (June 1912), ill. opp. p. 204], as a portrait of Préville by Fragonard.

Jean-Jacques Olivier. Pierre-Louis Dubus-Préville de la Comédie-Française (1721–1799). Paris, 1913, p. 176, ill. opp. p. 72.

Max Schmid. "Zur Geschichte der Miniaturmalerei." Die Kunst für Alle 29 (October 15, 1913), ill. p. 31.

Max v[on]. Boehn. Miniaturen und Silhouetten: ein Kapitel aus Kulturgeschichte und Kunst. Munich, 1917, pp. 69–70, fig. 67.

L. De Mauri (Ernesto Sarasino). L'amatore di miniature su avorio (secoli 17o, 18o, 19o). Milan, 1918, ill. p. 218.

Anne-Marie Passez. Letter. 1979, states that it is of very fine quality, and that an attribution to Vestier, while unlikely, should not be entirely ruled out.

Graham Reynolds with the assistance of Katharine Baetjer. European Miniatures in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1996, pp. 12–14, 88, no. 39, ill., as Attributed to Massé.

The miniature is set in a gilt-metal mount which has been separated from the lid of a blue composition snuffbox lined with tortoiseshell. A trade card of a French firm founded in 1905 was between the miniature and the box indicating that the work was refitted in France around that time.