Attributed to Jacques Marie LEGROS (1777-1825) - Lot 162

Attributed to Jacques Marie LEGROS (1777-1825) Presumed portrait of the chemist Antoine-François de Fourcroy (1755-1809), member of the Institut under the First Empire. Painting on porcelain signed on the left "LeGros pinxit". Motto "Histoire naturelle et Chimie" ("Natural History and Chemistry") Medallion diameter: 13 cm In a blackened wood frame 22x22 cm Provenance: Collection of a Toulon amateur with a passion for the Napoleonic era. Our portrait on porcelain features a scholar in an institutional red suit in a rich neoclassical allegorical setting. The model is depicted in bust form, surrounded by learned personifications: draped figures and winged genii evoking Science and Nature. A banner carried by a putto bears the explicit inscription: "NATURAL HISTORY AND CHEMISTRY". This underlines the figure's dual scientific competence and his role within the state's learned institutions. The work is signed on the porcelain "Le Gros pinxit", a signature attributable to Jacques-Marie LEGROS (177-1825), a Parisian painter renowned for his miniatures and portraits on porcelain, active during the Directoire and First Empire periods. Depicted in the red habit of the Institut, A.-F. de Fourcroy was an important chemist and a key player in the reorganization of natural history (teaching, Museum, schools). The miniature is preserved in its original blackened wood frame with metal claw setting, typical of prestigious portraits of the period.