Portrait Of A Student From The Imperial High School Under The Empire, Hst Attributed To Van Gorp

French school of the early 19th century, portrait of a young man in high school student uniform during the Empire (the buttons bear the inscription high school). Oil on canvas from the Empire period in a very beautiful gilt wood frame from the Empire period. On its original canvas, unsigned. Attributed to Henri Nicolas Van Gorp (Paris 1756 - 1819). Henri-Nicolas Van Gorp or Vangorp, born around 1758 in Paris, died August 17, 1820 in Beaumont-sur-Oise (Val-d'Oise) is a French painter and watercolorist, specializing in genre scenes. He started his activity under the old regime and his talent will make him stay first under all regimes until his death under the Restoration. Received as a pupil at the Royal Academy in June 1773, protected by Etienne Jeaurat, he lived there for a dozen years as a boarder, and became the pupil or fellow student of Louis-Léopold Boilly. He exhibited at the Paris Salon from 1796 until 1819. At the time of the Directory, he lived on rue du Coq-Honoré. It is particularly as a portrait painter that he is appreciated. His genre scenes have often been reproduced in engraving A confusion exists between the works of the master and his disciple, Van Gorp having even been qualified as "pasticheur de Boilly" by Paul Marmottan. Humbly, we do not share this critical opinion. if Boilly's works show a real talent for bringing out the intimate nature of the subject, to the point of sometimes appearing to be a caricature portrait, Van Gorp's works are characterized by great elegance and thoroughness in the details. The subjects are almost always beautiful, like our young boy whose velvety eyes and eyelashes will be appreciated, the hair that we seem to be able to count and even the budding mustache. Are these idealized portraits or simply a particular talent of the painter? Everyone will make their opinion. The lycées were created by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802 to form "the elite of the nation". The first was in Paris and then became Lycée Impérial. Other high schools were created in the big cities of France. They were to provide dedicated officials for the government. The first high schools were few and fully funded by the state. They took over from the central schools created at the end of the Revolution. The school provides training in letters (French, Latin, Ancient Greek, 4 teachers) and science (mathematics and physics) (4 teachers). It was headed by a board of directors whose members were appointed by Napoleon. Professors were recruited by inspectors general who reported annually to the government. Finally, the high schools were places of imperial propaganda. Most of the pupils were boarders (they only returned to their families during the summer holidays). Education was free for scholarship recipients. The high schools were marked by a military-type supervision: the pupils wore a uniform and formed companies under the direction of a sergeant. Very beautiful portrait presented in a luxury setting, rare subject. The young man is very handsome, we note the striking resemblance to the Emperor himself (shape of the face, nose, hairstyle). Indeed the admiration aroused by Napoleon turned to mimicry to the point that many notables posed with their hands in the waistcoat. The resemblance in our portrait is intended, as a political gesture. Excellent condition ; our table is clean cleaned without repainting or recovery. The gold leaf frame is also cleaned by our gilder. Canvas: 67cm x 58.5 cm Frame: 47cm x 38.5cm