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On view here are two miniature portraits (rather so-called "genre portraits") showing the same young woman. Both portraits are linked by a common subject: In the first, we see this young woman with her dog which is holding a letter in its snout. On the second, we see her again, sitting at her desk, writing a reply letter which begins with "A mon frere / Je t'aime" ("To my brother / I love you") and dated "a 24 Juin"). On the letter in the first portrait we can read "S. Dominque", which means that her brother, who wrote it, is at the time probably stationed in the Caribbean, in Santo Domingo (the capital and largest city of the modern Dominican Republic, located on the southern coast of the island of Hispaniola, which the country shares with Haiti) with French troops, who in 1802 recovered the city from Haitian rebels.

The second miniature is signed "F. Vincent 24 Juin 1802", which leads us to assume that the two miniatures are with great probability works by the French portraitist of the turn of the 19th century, François-Philibert Vincent.
Moreover, the date in the artist's signature, June 24, is the same as on her letter, which means that the lady is writing her reply letter in the presence of the artist, perhaps planning to send both finished miniatures to her brother along with her reply.

Upps! In early January 2026, two years after acquiring both miniatures, we were leafing through old auction catalogs when we came across a miniature (see our image) by the same artist depicting "our" young lady in the following year, 1803 (she has already changed her hairstyle to a more fashionable one), and again with a letter in her hands! However, this time it was not a message from her beloved brother, but news of his death in distant Caribbean. The lady is sitting by a mourning urn placed on a pedestal; the latter bears the Latin inscription "Fuis St. Dominique Et Fremis A ce Nom". On the letter, we read "le cap 16 pluviose" ("le Cap Haitien, 21 January 1803" and, apparently, the name of lady: Henriette Jeanne Armaude (correct Armante) Andre Du Homme (Duhomme). Google informs us that she was born in 1777, in Caen, department Calvados what means that on discussed three miniature portraits she is respectively 25- and 26-year-old.

François-Philibert Vincent (1768 Paris - after 1812 ibd.) was a pupil of François-André Vincent (1708-1790) and Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825). He exhibited portraits and genre paintings at the Salon de Paris between 1799 and 1812.

*Provenance: antique store in Auxerre, France 

Condition: good; in original frames

Creation Year: 1802

Measurements: UNFRAMED: 7.2cm x 7.2cm / 2.8in x 2.8in FRAMED: 13.7cm x 13.2cm / 5.4in x 5.2in

Object Type: Framed miniature

Style: Portrait miniatures

Technique:  each: watercolor painting (rectangular)

Inscription: one is signed and dated: F. Vincent. 24 Juin 1802.

Creator: François-Philibert Vincent

Creator Dates: 1768 Paris-after 1812 ibd.

Nationality: French


Themes:
FRENCH
FEMALE PORTRAIT
WRITING
LETTER
GENRE
DOG
CONSULATE
EMPIRE
CARIBBEAN
STORY
YOUNG WOMAN

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