Page 66 - Beholding Liberty!
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66 BEHOLDING LIBERTY!
the dimensions of the painting – and in terms of quality. In all likelihood, it is a replica by the orig- inal artist. Otherwise, we are dealing with a copy by a worthy follower or an artist of the circle of Girodet, certainly of considerable artistic value.
The philhellenic sentiment of this work – in ad- dition to the identity of the sitter – is reinforced by the dedicatory inscription at the bottom of the high-quality period frame. According to it, this work was donated to the Hellenic Parliament by Amalia Lenormant, in return for the honours that the Greek state bestowed on the memory of her
husband, the French philhellene and archaeolo- gist Charles Lenormant (1802-1859), who died in Athens; in accordance with the expressed wish of the deceased, to be buried next to Plato, in 1860 his heart was placed inside a hydria installed on the Colonus Hippius Hill. The widow Lenormant donated to the Hellenic Parliament the portrait of the great Philhellene Chateaubriand, to whom she was related.
