Footnotes

• The painting of cardinals and other high ranking Catholic clergy became a genre in its own right in the latter half of the nineteenth century and it was one that Vibert fully mastered. His gentle mocking of the leading figures of the Church struck a chord at the time and this popularity has survived remarkably well. In the present lot the implication that cardinals had time to paint self-portraits in their palaces is a subtle joke with a serious undertone if the onlooker chooses to look for it.

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Category: Fine Art / 19th Century Paintings

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