Corot, Jean-Baptiste-Camille (1796-1875)
Autoportrait ou Corot, la palette à la main (Self Portrait or Corot, palette in hand)
c.1835
Oil on canvas, 33 × 25 cm
Galleria degli Uffizi, Firenze
The Uffizi asked Corot for a self-portrait in 1872. Shortly after the artist’s death, in 1875, it was donated by the family, on the advice of Robaut (Corot Sale, 1875, no. 541). Only two self-portraits of Corot are known, this one and the one in the Louvre, painted, according to tradition, in 1823 shortly before the painter’s departure for Italy, but this date is disputed by Toussaint in the exhibition catalogue (Paris, 1975). The self-portrait in the Uffizi, undoubtedly executed around 1835. It is an authoritative and modest work at the same time, painted by an artist in full command of his technique, upon his return from his second trip to Italy. A harmonious correspondence of curves tempers a rigorous construction; subtly modulated, the grey background contributes to giving the work a classical serenity and balance that makes it similar to portraits such as that of Octavie Sennegon, from 1833. (Louvre)