François GERARD, known as BARON GERARD and ATELIER Portrait of Katarzyna Jaworska, Countess Starzenska (1782 - 1862) Original canvas 33 x 24.7 cm Inscribed on the stretcher "Ctesse Stra...". Reprise du ricordo du Baron Gerard conservé au musée national du château de Versailles et du Trianon (Toile, 32 x 20 cm. See the catalog des peintures du musée national du château de Versailles, Paris, 1995, no. 2076). The full-length portrait painted by Gerard in 1803-1804 (Canvas, 215 x 130.5 cm), which served as the model for the ricordo, is preserved at Lviv (formerly Lwow), Ukraine, National Art Gallery. Countess Katarzyna Joanna Gabrielle Starzenska was an important figure in the Polish aristocracy of the first half of the 19th century. During her wanderings through the courts of Europe, "La Belle Gabrielle" met Eugène de Beauharnais, with whom she had a love affair that ended with Empress Josephine. 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".