Stella in Prison
by GRANET, François-Marius, Oil on canvas, 194 x 144 cm
The French painter Jacques Stella (1596-1657), in prison in Rome as painted by David’s pupil Francois-Marius Granet, might seem another persecuted genius. In fact the Madonna and Child that Stella has drawn on his cell walls has attracted the admiration of his jailor and fellow inmates, and there is already the promise of hardship overcome. This was indeed to be Granet’s own experience, not least as a result of the purchase of this picture by Napoleon’s ex-empress, Josephine.