Barbier-Walbonne's Portrait of a Family

Portrait of Antoine-Georges-François de Chabaud-Latour and His Family, 1806

Portraiture and history painting come together in this tribute to family devotion. Tenderly instructing his daughter and son, Antoine-Georges-François de Chabaud-Latour gestures toward a monument to his own father, a distinguished military man and engineer. The carved epitaph—he lived and died without reproach—provides a lesson in virtue for the following generations. Chabaud-Latour’s wife, Juliette, stands beside him, nursing their infant son, demonstrating the importance of maternal strength to the future of family and nation. The portrait is situated in the landscape of Nîmes in southern France, home to both the artist and the Chabaud-Latour family.

Our puzzle design imagines all three generations of the Chabaud-Latour family situated on the same bucolic country bridge in three different historical periods. In the first, the grandfather, sword drawn on horseback, engages in battle. In the second, Antoine-Georges-François courts his wife. In the third scene, their children lead a small playful parade with a rooster as they march across the bridge. Notable whimseys include Marriane of France, lions, rabbits, geese and three growth stages of a conifer tree – signifying the passage of time.

Courtesy of the RISD Museum, Providence, RI.