Louis-Gustave Ricard, 'Portrait of a Man', probably 1866

Louis-Gustave Ricard worked primarily as a portraitist, producing almost 150 portraits, including many of his fellow artists. Born in Marseilles, of Italian stock, he enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1843 in the studio of Léon Cogniet. Here he began his lifelong practice of making copies of old masters, particularly in the Louvre, several of which were particularly admired. He also travelled from 1844, making trips to Italy, Belgium and England. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71 he lived in England, where he was able to study the work of British portraitists such as Reynolds, Romney and Gainsborough.

The sitter has not been identified, but he appears to be wearing the red ribbon of the Légion d’Honneur. The soft tones, muted lighting and the contrast between the pale face and dark neutral background perhaps show the influence of Dutch painting, particularly Rembrandt.

The painting was in the private collection of Edgar Degas. Although the sitter may be someone whom Degas knew, the artist also admired Ricard’s portraits and is recorded as commending the paintings he exhibited at the Salon of 1859. Like Ricard, Degas was of Italian descent and had also studied old master paintings.