Léon BENOUVILLE (Paris, 1821 - 1859) Portrait of Madame Adolphe Viollet-le-Duc, née Stéphanie Girard Oil and gold on round canvas (Original canvas) Signed, located and dated 'L. BENOUVILLE. Rome 1847' towards the right Canvas from Acheron Hayard, piazza di Spagna, Rome Diameter: 80 cm Portrait of Mrs Adolphe Viollet-le-Duc, oil on canvas, signed and dated, by L. Benouville D. 31.5 in. Provenance: Collection of Mr and Mrs Adolphe Viollet-le-Duc ; Collection of Alfred Vaudoyer (1846-1917) and his wife Marie-Félicie Vaudoyer, née Viollet-le-Duc (1854-1877); Albert Vaudoyer Collection (1874-1947), Paris ; Then by descent; Private collection, Paris Exhibitions: Exhibition of portraits by Ingres and his pupils, Paris, Selligmann, 23 March - 21 April 1934, no. 53 (label on reverse) Bibliography: Marie-Madeleine Aubrun, Léon Benouville. Catalogue raisonné de L'oeuvre, Paris, 1981, p. 90, no. 52, p. 64, repr. Our painting can be related to a preparatory drawing which, as well as being signed, dated and located in the same way, is dedicated 'to Madame Viollet. Le Duc' in the lower left-hand corner1. Stéphanie Girard was the wife of the painter Adolphe Viollet-le-Duc (1817-1878), brother of the famous architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc (1814-1879). Their marriage produced Marie-Félicie Viollet-le-Duc (1854-1877), who married Alfred Vaudoyer (1846-1917) in 1874. Accustomed to round forms in the few portraits we know of him, Léon Benouville stood out for his idealised realism, which he used to great effect. Following in the footsteps of Jean-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867), Léon Bénouville belonged to a brilliant tradition of portrait painters, and his untimely death deprived the French School of a representative who was far ahead of the taste in vogue during the Second Empire. 1 - Marie-Madeleine Aubrun, Léon Benouville. Catalogue raisonné de L'oeuvre, Paris, 1981, p. 90, no. D54, repr. Léon BENOUVILLE (Paris, 1821 - 1859) Our painting can be compared with a preparatory drawing which, in addition to being signed, dated and located in the same way, is dedicated 'to Madame Viollet. Le Duc' in the lower left-hand corner1. Stéphanie Girard was the wife of the painter Adolphe Viollet-le-Duc (1817-1878), brother of the famous architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc (1814-1879). Their marriage produced Marie-Félicie Viollet-le-Duc (1854-1877), who married Alfred Vaudoyer (1846-1917) in 1874. Accustomed to round forms in the few portraits we know of him, Léon Benouville stood out for his idealised realism, which he used to great effect. Following in the footsteps of Jean-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867), Léon Bénouville belonged to a brilliant tradition of portrait painters, and his untimely death deprived the French School of a representative who was far ahead of the taste in vogue during the Second Empire. 1 - Marie-Madeleine Aubrun, Léon Benouville. Catalogue raisonné de L'oeuvre, Paris, 1981, p. 90, no. D54, repr.