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Londra, Regno Unito
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Barthélemy Menn (1815-1893) was born in Geneva where he was taught by W. A. Töpffer and subsequently by Léonard Lugardon (1801-1884), a former pupil of Ingres and jean-Antoine Gros. Menn later studied with Ingres and followed him in Rome. He mostly produced portraits and landscapes close to the school of Barbizon although he made his debut with historical subjects. Menn taught two generations of painters including Maurice Dudevant, Georges Sand's son, and Ferdinand Hodler (1853-1918).
This painting is a fine example of Menn's transitional manner when he took his distance with history painting under the influence of Ingres and was attracted by a freer approach of nature developed by Corot and the school of Barbizon. This painting which combines a landscape with a pleasant genre scene, shows however a high degree of finish which places the execution quite early in Menn's career around 1845. It shows a group of children gathered around a fire while the mist covered the landscape in the background. The interest in rural subject and atmospheric effects is typical of the Realist movement admired by Menn, which emerged in France in the 1840s.
Victoria and Albert Museum