Jean Marie Melchior Doze (1827–1913) Oil On Wood Portrait Of A Girl With A Hen, 1853

Melchior DOZE (1827-1913) – Portrait of a Girl with a Hen

Oil on wood, signed and dated 1853 lower left

Dimensions with frame: 48 x 38 cm
Dimensions of the artwork: 32.5 x 24 cm

This oil on wood, signed and dated 1853, immerses us in the intimacy of a rural scene imbued with great gentleness.
A young girl, dressed in a blue satin dress with iridescent reflections and a delicately crafted lace petticoat, is seated on a low stone wall. She holds a white hen close to her with obvious tenderness. The child's gaze, directed to the side, reveals a certain introspection or shy attentiveness. Melchior Doze demonstrates remarkable technical mastery here, particularly in his treatment of fabrics and the contrast between the rustic texture of the brick wall and the cage and the delicacy of the girl's skin.
The light, inherited from the teachings of Hippolyte Flandrin, sculpts the volumes and the face with classical precision and great purity. The painting is enhanced by the Louis XV style of the wooden and stucco frame from the same period, whose ornamentation emphasises the character of this composition.

Painted in 1853, this portrait is an early work created when the artist, aged 26, was completing his training. At that time, Melchior Doze was still under the direct influence of his teachers, Ferdinand Gaillard and the illustrious Hippolyte Flandrin. This work displays the rigour of drawing and clarity of composition characteristic of academic teaching, while already revealing a personal sensitivity for genre scenes. Jean-Marie Melchior Doze went on to become a central figure in 19th-century artistic life in Nîmes, as a member of the Academy and director of the city's drawing school. Although he is famous for his monumental religious compositions adorning the churches of the Gard region, this early portrait reveals his original talent as a portraitist and his ability to capture, from the very beginning of his career, the innocence and poetry of everyday life.

Condition:
The work, which has not been previously restored, has slight localised losses on its unvarnished paint layer and requires cleaning (see photos).


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