François GERARD, known as BARON GERARD and ATELIER Portrait of Giuseppa Carcano, Marquise de Visconti di Borgorato (1760 - 1840) Original canvas 32.8 x 22.5 cm Reprise du ricordo du Baron Gerard conserved at the Musée national du château de Versailles et du Trianon (Canvas, 32 x 22 cm. See catalog of paintings at the Musée National du Château de Versailles, Paris, 1995, no. 2102). The painting by Baron Gerard, which served as a model for the Versailles ricordo, was exhibited at the Salon of 1810 (no. 354) and is now in the Musée du Louvre (Canvas, 226.5 x 146 cm). Giuseppa Carcano Marquise Visconti (1760-1840) was born into a prominent Milanese noble family. She married Marquis Francesco Visconti. Distinguished by her wit and beauty, she embarked on an affair with Napoleon's aide-de-camp, later Maréchal Berthier. She moved to Paris, where she made a great impression and befriended Empress Josephine. She pursued her passionate relationship, and her passionate love letters to the marshal were criticized by the English press of the time. We would like to thank Mr. Alain Latreille for sharing his opinion with us: "All these ricordi were produced in the painter's studio under his supervision and sometimes retouched, and are comparable with the set kept at the Château de Versailles, purchased by King Louis-Philippe's civil list at the sale after the painter's death in 1837".