Portrait of Louis-François Bertin (1832)

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres: Portrait of French journalist Louis-François Bertin

More about Bertin here. Among other things, he is credited with the invention of the feuilleton, a supplement to the political section of a newspaper, usually in smaller type, which carried gossip, fashion, criticism, epigrams and charades, and which fostered a culture of literary gamesmanship.

 

A portrait of the same gentleman from thirty years prior to the above is shown below.

 

 François-Xavier Fabre: Portrait de Louis-François Bertin (1803)

Portrait of Edward Fox Fitzgerald (1815)

François-Xavier Fabre (attr.): Portrait of Edward Fox Fitzgerald

Edward Fox Fitzgerald was the son of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, an Irish revolutionary who was killed "resisting arrest." About the subject of this painting, not much information is readily available. Fabre's portrait is a flattering depiction that seems to show him as a very pleasant fellow.

The Death of Narcissus (1814)

François-Xavier Fabre: The Death of Narcissus

Portrait of a Man (1809)

François-Xavier Fabre: Portrait of a Man

In this work, which is one of Fabre's most sensitive portraits, a fashionably dressed young man turns his intense gaze towards the viewer. The plain background with its subtle modulations of light and shadow creates a foil for the figure's clearly defined contours and his elegantly dishevelled hair, cut in the so-called 'a la Titus' style. Fabre probably painted the picture during a brief return visit from to Paris from Italy. It is inscribed faintly in pencil with the name 'M Camille' - which is presumably a reference to the, as yet, otherwise unknown young man. [summary from the National Galleries Scotland]

The Judgment of Paris (1808)

Francois-Xavier Fabre: The Judgment of Paris 

The Judgment of Paris was one of the most popular mythological themes for painters for centuries. It concerns an incident where Hermes asked the mortal Paris to judge the beauty of three goddesses: Hera, Athena and Aphrodite - a perilous choice indeed. The ultimate result of this divine beauty contest was the Trojan War.

A small sample of the many paintings done of this incident is below.

 'Master of the Argonaut Panels' (ca. 1480)

 

 Anonymous Flemish Painter (16th century)

 

 Frans Floris (1550)

 

 Jacob Jordaens (ca. 1620–25)

 

 Peter Paul Rubens

 

 Claude Lorraine (1645-46)

[Lorraine was primarily a landscape artist.
The figures seem almost incidental here.]

 

 Noel-Nicolas Coypel (1728)

 

 Anton Raphael Mengs (ca. 1757)

 

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1914)

Portrait of Edgar Clarke (1802)

 François-Xavier Fabre: Portrait of Edgar Clarke, full-length, in a forest.

Edgar Clarke (1799-1852), despite the English-sounding name, was a French aristocrat, soldier and politician. He was the "Duc de Feltre" and "Comte d'Hunebourg". He entered a military career as early as age would allow.  He served as a Captain in the 4th Cuirassiers in the 1823 "Spanish Campaign," undertaken by France to restore Ferdinand VII to the Spanish throne. Retiring from military service in 1829, he also served in the French parliament until 1832. His later years were spent out of the public eye.

François-Xavier Fabre (1776-1837) was a Neoclassic painter and student of Jacques-Louis David.