Joseph-Antoine Moltedo (born 1775)

ca. 1810
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 801
Corsican by birth, Moltedo was an enterprising businessman and inventor, agent to the French clergy at the Vatican, and director of the Roman post office from 1803 until 1814. Painted during one of the most productive periods of Ingres’s nascent career, this refined portrait belongs to a series of commissions he received from French officials in Napoleonic Rome. They are distinguished by the inclusion of Roman views as backdrops—in this case the Appian Way and the Colosseum—as well as by stormy gray skies, a Romantic conceit that serves as a foil to the calm and secure expressions of the men portrayed.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Joseph-Antoine Moltedo (born 1775)
  • Artist: Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (French, Montauban 1780–1867 Paris)
  • Date: ca. 1810
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 29 5/8 x 22 7/8 in. (75.2 x 58.1 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
  • Object Number: 29.100.23
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.