Portrait of Félix Ravaisson
Théodore Chassériau French
Not on view
Jean-Gaspard-Félix Larcher Ravaisson-Mollien (1813–1900) was a noted philosopher and archaeologist. The year Chassériau drew him, Ravaisson was awarded a prize by the French Academy for an essay on Aristotle’s metaphysics. Chassériau’s fondness for Ravaisson is expressed in a letter he wrote to the sitter’s brother Fréderic from Algeria. The painter asked Fréderic to pass on “a thousand fond thoughts to M. Ravaisson. In him, I have found the heart of a friend.” Chassériau’s penciled inscription on the drawing further testifies to that affection.
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