Child with a Mask

When the Musée d'Orsay bought this round picture in 2023, it was open about how little it knew. The sitter has no name, the purpose is unknown, and the date can only be placed somewhere between 1840 and 1856, a span that runs from Gérôme's student years to his time as an established Salon painter. What we see is a small child wrapped in green, looking back over one shoulder with a wary, sidelong glance. Pushed up on top of the head is a mask with a shock of red hair, its thin cord hanging down past the child's ear. Gérôme gave the painting to his sister-in-law, Blanche Goupil, and it stayed in the family before passing through several galleries between 1997 and 2003. On the gilt frame, a small brass plate gives it another title, Young Man with a Mask.