Gérard de Vesme

Pasquier, who painted portraits in oil, pastel, and enamel, was born at Villefranche-sur-Saône (Rhône). He became a member of the Académie Royale in 1769 upon presentation of miniature portraits representing Louis XV and the king of Denmark, both of which were exhibited that same year. He was granted a lodging in the Louvre in 1774.

A slip of paper inside the box on which the miniature is mounted is inscribed “Le verso de l'émail / porte cette inscription / Gerarde de Vesme” and in another hand “peint a Paris / par Pasquier 177[3?]”. Although the box has not been dismantled to verify the transcription, the work is characteristic of Pasquier's style in enamel painting.

[2015; adapted from Reynolds and Baetjer 1996]

Mrs. Louis V. Bell (until 1925)

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "European Miniatures in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," November 5, 1996–January 5, 1997, no. 43.

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. 10, 13, 90, no. 43, ill., as "characteristic of Pasquier's style in enamel painting".