Portrait Of Robert Duflos De Saint-amand (1812-1894) Consul Of France

Portrait of Robert Duflos de Saint-Amand (1812-1894), Consul of France
Oil on canvas
H. 91 cm; W. 72 cm


From a family of the Parisian bourgeoisie, Robert Duflos de Saint-Amand was born in 1812 from the second marriage of his father, financial collector, to Rosalie de Gogué. His father is the first to add to the surname Duflos, the name of Saint-Amand, the origin of which is not known. Going up the family genealogy we find in the 17th century the famous engraver Claude Duflos, whose works are still sought after. Higher up are a small dynasty of notaries and merchants settled in Picardy. Robert Duflos de Saint-Amand was Consul of France in Riga in Latvia as well as in Bremen in Germany. He certainly must have occupied other positions the information of which has not reached us. Duflos married his niece Marie Duflos de Saint-Amand, who died in 1910 in Blois at the age of 78, sixteen years after her husband.

This portrait, made in the course of the 1880s, unfortunately has no identified author. Unsigned, despite its quality and presence, this canvas was presented at a Salon, perhaps that of the French Artists, as indicated by the label on the frame, the number of which remains illegible. Duflos de Saint-Amand proudly exhibits his Legion of Honor, the red of which stands out from the austerity of the black suit, like his blue tie crowned by a magnificent pin depicting a fleur-de-lys, a sure symbol of his royalist spirit.