Alexandre CABANEL (Montpellier, 1823 - Paris, 1889) Portrait of a woman with a book Canvas Signed and dated lower left "Adre Cabanel / 1841". 41x32cm This lovely, unpublished painting is one of the earliest to have come down to us from the artist, then aged 18. A year earlier, in 1840, he had entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he was a pupil of François-Édouard Picot. Our painting is similar to several early portraits, such as Portrait d'un jeune artiste (Portrait of a Young Artist) from 1842, now in the Musée Fabre in Montpellier (inv. 2015.24.1).