Hertrich, Michel - portrait of husband and wife

Both of these portraits are signed "M Hertrich 1840". Michel Hertrich (1811-1880) was a French artist who was born in Turkheim and died in Colmar. He exhibited at the Paris Salon between 1844 and 1848. Two miniatures by him are in the Museum of Colmar.

These two portraits are believed to be the earliest recorded works by him. A very attractive portrait of his family, presumably including his self-portrait, can be seen at HERTRICH

Later in his career, Hertrich was noted for his town landscapes, see Michel Hertrich Prints and Posters at Art.com

Although not shown here, the portraits are framed in relatively ornate thermo-plastic type frames of a design not seen before.

The sitters are unknown.
However, it is possible the man is Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel (1784-1846) the German astronomer.

Bessel made measurements of positions for about 50,000 stars, which allowed the first accurate determination of interstellar distances; he was also the first astronomer to measure the distance of a star other than the Sun.

There is a portrait by Michel Hertrich of Bessel in the Granger collection in New York which has similar facial features, although a different hairstyle - see
Bessel, Friedrich Wilhelm -- Encyclopaedia Britannica .




Literature: Les Peintres en Miniature p287 1221a, 1221b.