DELAUNAY Jules - Elie Nantes 1828 Paris 1891 Portrait... Lot 59

DELAUNAY Jules - Elie Nantes 1828 Paris 1891 Portrait of Alphée Dubois, engraver at the Monnaie de Paris and postage stamp designer (Paris 1831 Clamart 1905). Signed upper right E. DELAUNAY. DELAUNAY / 1859; Annotated upper left A mon ami DUBOIS H. 74,5 L. 60 cm Portrait dating back to the two artists' stay in Rome, one a Prix de Rome in painting (1857), the other in medal engraving and fine stone (1855). The bust portrait of Alphée Dubois, three-quarter view on a green background, holding one of his medals, reveals the influence of the Tuscan Renaissance masters on the painter. The same year also saw Jules Elie Delaunay's portrait of sculptor and medallist Henri Chapu (1833-1891) at the Villa Médicis, and his self-portrait with black skullcap at the Musée de Nantes (Cf. Catalogue de l'exposition Jules Elie Delaunay, Nantes Musée des Beaux Arts 1988 et Paris, Musée Hébert 1989, p. 25 & 26 - ACL Editions 1988). Alphée Dubois is credited with the medal depicting Pope Pius IX blessing the imperial prince and, engraved on sardonix, the portraits of Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie. Awarded the Légion d'Honneur in December 1882, he became curator of Besançon's Musée des Beaux Arts et d'Archéologie in 1900.