Chasing Butterflies
by LEBARBIER, Jean-Jacques-François, Oil on canvas, 113 x 146 cm
This painting was exhibited at the Salon of 1810 where it was titled La chasse aux papillons, ou all�gorie de la beaut� qui veut fixer l’inconstance (Chasing butterflies or an allegory of beauty attempting to restrain inconstancy). The unusual subject can be related to an event in 1810: Napoleon had married Marie-Louise of Austria, only a few months after divorcing Empress Josephine who was unable to bear him an heir. The ‘inconstancy’ might be that of the Emperor himself.