The Gleaner by Joseph Désiré Court
The Gleaner by Joseph Désiré Court

The Gleaner

The Gleaner c1841 by French Painter Joseph Désiré Court (1797 – 1865); a painter of historical subject matter and portraits.

This is a portrait of a beautiful young lady doing the job of a gleaner, which means that after the harvest is collected, her job is to collect the grains and produce that were left behind, so that nothing is left on the ground to spoil.

The young lady is in a seated position, and she is dressed in typical peasant girl attire of the time, carrying a large foldable cloth basket that is tied to her waist and filled with wheat, wild flowers and grasses.

Wrapped around her left arm is a bundle of what looks like ripe deep red cherries; and she is standing by a very large tree that seems to be within a forest settings; with plants that a situated to her right in the background.

The young lady is wearing on top of her beautiful raven hair, a white maids cap with ruffle trimming along the top edge that leads off to ruffled chin straps on the sides; a wooden cross that is connected with a string necklace over her chest; a white off shoulder blouse and a white shawl with red stripes in a hash pattern that is wrapped around her left arm and around her back; a red corset that ties at the front; and a sky blue ankle length skirt.

This is a remastered digital art old masters reproduction of a public domain image that is available as an acrylic, metal, rolled, framed, canvas print online.

Below Info Courtesy The Matthiesen Gallery

It is thought that the portrait, referred to in the 1838 Salon catalogue as Portrait of Miss W, may perhaps be of the daughter of Louis-Philippe’s trusted valet, George White. There was a ‘Mademoiselle White’ in service during the 1830s as a chambermaid to Adélaïde d’Orléans, Louis Philippe’s sister and it would not have been uncommon for the child of a trusted servant to gain employment in the household of another member of the royal family.

George White himself had originally been employed by the brother of the king, the duc de Montpensier, and following his death in 1807 had been taken on by Louis-Philippe. George While is believed to have entered the royal family’s service during their first exile in England, from 1800-1815, and rose to be the closest of personal servants. George had rooms at both the castle of Randan and the Trianon at Versailles and was granted an allowance of 3000 francs during Louis-Philippe’s second exile, 1848-1850.

It is also known that George had an eye for art, purchasing works on behalf of Louis-Philippe on a number of occasions. Although this portrait may seem grand for a servant, it perhaps shows both the esteem with which the family was held within the Royal Household and also George’s connections within the artistic fraternity. Whether he was personally known to Court we are not sure, however Court’s extended activity at Versailles during the July monarchy must have brought the two of them to an acquaintance with each other.

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