Jacques-Antoine Vallin, Dr Forlenze

Joseph-Nicolas-Blaise Forlenze (1751–1833) was born in Picerno, at that time part of the Kingdom of Naples, into a family of physicians. His name at birth was Giuseppe Nicolò Leonardo Biagio Forlenza (his descendants – and also streets in Italy named after him – retain the original spelling of his surname). After studying surgery in Naples, he pursued further study in France and England. By 1797 he was running an eye surgery in Paris and in 1798 he was surgeon at the Hôtel national des Invalides (a retirement home and hospital for war veterans) and at the Hôtel-Dieu (the city’s oldest hospital).

While in France, Dr Forlenze soon gained a reputation as a pioneering ophthalmologist and surgeon, particularly following his successful treatment of notable political and cultural figures. His curing of eye diseases, such as trachoma, among French troops returning from Egypt brought him to the attention of Napoleon. In gratitude, Napoleon issued a royal decree appointing him eye surgeon for schools, civil hospices and all the charitable institutions of the French Empire. Further awards and titles followed.

Jacques-Antoine Vallin painted this near life-size portrait in Paris, where it was exhibited at the Salon of 1808, but it is set against an Italian background. On the left, you can see Mount Vesuvius, which rises over the Bay of Naples. The hint of red at its peak and cloud of dark smoke show the volcano is active. The lighthouse on the right may be on the Molo (dock) in Naples. In front of it, there is a fountain topped with a statue of Saint Januarius, the patron saint of Naples.

Fashionably dressed in a long-tailed black coat, cut high in front, and wearing aristocratic knee-breeches, Dr Forlenze holds a pale pink carnation (the flower associated with January) in his right hand. His hat is tucked under his left arm. Facing us directly, he displays the orders and decorations of the Légion d'Honneur and the Order of St Michel. He became a member of these orders after 1807. His head and shoulders, including the decorations on the lapel, were painted on a small canvas that was subsequently fitted into the full-length portrait – if you look very closely, you can just see its outline.