Description

The Dualist (School of Paul Delaroche).

Oils On Panel. Original Gilt Frame. Circa 1850.

Description and Background:

An intriguing and romantic painting. Painted on wood panels in a neoclassical and romantic style. In the school of Paul Delaroche. A beautifully painted allegorical scene shows the hero figure about to fight in a dual with a challenge in the form of a letter on the table.

Size 18 inches ( cm) by 14 inches (cm).

Hippolyte-Paul Delaroche (French pronunciation 17 July 1797 – 4 November 1856) was a French painter who achieved greater success painting historical scenes. 

He became famous in Europe for his melodramatic depictions that often portrayed subjects from English and French history. 

The emotions emphasized in Delaroche’s paintings appeal to Romanticism while the detail of his work along with the deglorified portrayal of historic figures follow the trends of Academicism and Neoclassicism. Delaroche aimed to depict his subjects and history with pragmatic realism. 

He did not consider popular ideals and norms in his creations but rather painted all his subjects in the same light whether they were historical figures like Marie-Antoinette, figures of Christianity, or people of his time like Napoleon Bonaparte. Delaroche was a leading pupil of Antoine-Jean Gros and later mentored a number of notable artists such as Thomas Couture, Jean-Léon Gérôme, and Jean-François Millet.