Jean-Baptiste CHARPENTIER (Paris, 1728 - 1806) Portrait of a couple in an interior Oil on canvas Signed and dated 'charpentier / 1795' in the centre on a lettering 82 x 113.5 cm Provenance: Anonymous sale; Paris, Palais Galliera, Mes Maurice Rheims et René Laurin, 31 March 1971 ; Private collection, Paris The career of Jean-Baptiste Charpentier is inseparable from the destiny of his principal patrons. An ordinary painter in the household of the Duke of Penthièvre, he suffered from the emigration his benefactors were forced to under the Revolution. Thus deprived of his main source of income, he had to wait for the official Salon to be opened to all artists in 1791 before he could hope to renew his wealthy clientele. Since portraiture took up most of his time working for the Penthièvre family, he developed a particular skill in this discipline. This great talent earned him comparisons with his contemporary Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725-1805), unlike whom he abandoned erotic suggestion to give his compositions an atmosphere more inspired by Dutch genre scenes. Dated 1795, our painting belongs to the artist's mature period, and presents with great refinement a scene of touching intimacy. Jean-Baptiste CHARPENTIER (Paris, 1728 - 1806) 82 x 113.5 cm