Edgar Degas
Family Portrait (The Bellelli Family), 1858–60
Oil on canvas, 79 1/8 × 98 1/4 in. (201 × 249.5 cm)
Musée d’Orsay, Paris
Degas’s Family Portrait, depicting his aunt Laure Bellelli, her daughters, and her husband, is without question the masterpiece of his first decade as a painter. The majesty of its scale, its profound dignity, the sophistication of its composition, the extraordinary elegance of its execution, and above all the singularity of its psychological mood, which seems to tell a story—together these elements make the painting intensely moving and memorable.
Click on the image to see the full painting.
