Joseph Combette (1770-1840) Large Empire Family Portrait

Important collective portrait oil painting on panel from the 19th century presented in its original gilded wooden frame with an elegant Empire motif animated by palmettes. Beautiful composition by Joseph-Marcellin COMBETTE (1770-1840) workshop of or follower... featuring a family portrait in large format after the small model exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts in Tours. Good general condition (note wear and losses to the frame). Dimensions: 1 m 07 X 90.5 cm Joseph-Marcellin Combette (1770-1840) This painter was born in Nozeroy in 1770 and died in Poligny in 1840. He was a pupil of Melchior Wyrsch (1732 - 1798), painter of of Swiss origin who, with Luc Breton, created the School of Fine Arts in Besançon in 1773. • At the end of the 18th century, Combette moved to Paris where he was a pupil of the sculptor Claude Dejoux (1732 – 1816). From 1804, he returned to Franche-Comté, and more precisely to Poligny where he held the position of drawing teacher at the college. He then spent the rest of his life in the region but nevertheless participated three times in the Salons in Paris (1800, 1801 and 1824), thus testifying to a certain national fame. Combette distinguished himself mainly in the production of portraits of families and notables of the region. The majority of his known works to date center around a single figure with tight framing and a uniform background; the faces then have a great force of expression and great care is taken with the details of clothing and the accessories that sometimes accompany the models. Some paintings also feature group portraits, usually families.