Portrait of Narcisse Virgile Diaz de la Peña (1848): Art, History and Details

Portrait of Narcisse Virgile Diaz de la Peña (1848) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Jean-François Millet (French, 1814–1875).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Jean-François Millet executed this boldly drawn life-sized portrait at an early point in his career when he had very little money and his paintings would not sell. Another artist had suggested he make drawings to trade for clothing, and this example belongs to a group of four chalk portraits of artist colleagues that Millet sold together for only twenty French francs (about three dollars). The sitter, Narcisse Virgile Diaz de la Peña, became known for his thickly painted, luminous and colorful landscapes. In this impressively large portrait of Diaz, Millet used the black chalk in a broad yet accurate manner to describe the sitter's curly hair, bushy beard, and brows. A few touches of light-colored chalk provide a highlight on the collar, and the shadow across part of the face adds expression to Diaz's slightly furrowed brow and direct gaze.

Object facts

• Title: Portrait of Narcisse Virgile Diaz de la Peña
• Date: 1848
• Creator attribution: Jean-François Millet (French, 1814–1875)
• Culture: France, 19th century
• Type: Drawing
• Technique: black chalk with heightening in pale green-blue chalk
• Dimensions: Sheet: 61.4 x 48.7 cm (24 3/16 x 19 3/16 in.)
• Collection: DR - French
• Department: Drawings
• Accession number: 2003.41

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.