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100. Jacques Guillaume Lucien Amans (French, 1801-1888, active New Orleans, 1836-1856), “Portrait of Jeanne Roman (1836-1889) Holding a Dove, Daughter of Aimée Françoise Parent (b. 1797) and Louisiana Governor André Bienvenu Roman (1795-1866)”, c. early 1840s, oil on canvas, signed lower right, 30 in. x 24 1/4 in., antique gilt frame. $15000/25000 Provenance: From the sitter to her daughter, Anna Jeanne de la Villebeuvre Hyman; thence by descent in the family. Note: Considered the most important portrait painter in New Orleans from the 1830s to the 1850s, Jacques Amans received commissions to paint the most prominent families of the region. André Bienvenu Roman (1795-1866) was the ninth governor of Louisiana. Born near Opelousas, his family later moved to St. James Parish and established Cabahanoce Plantation on the Mississippi River. In 1816, Roman married Aimée Françoise Parent; the couple had five children and made their home at Cabahanoce Plantation, which was located near Bon Sejour (now known as Oak Alley Plantation), the property of Governor Roman’s brother, Jacques Telesphore Roman, and near Le Petit Versailles, the plantation of Governor Roman’s sister and brother-in-law, Josephine Roman and Valcour Aime. Like his brother and brother-in-law, Roman was a successful sugar plantation owner; however, he also began a career in politics from an early age. Roman was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives in 1818 at the age of 23 and served two terms as the governor of Louisiana; the first from 1831-1835. He lost his bid for reelection but later ran successfully for the office and served from 1839-1843. These charming portraits of Jeanne Roman (1836-1889), lot 100, and Robert Roman (1830-1855), lot 101, were most likely painted around 1840-42, during André Bienvenu Roman’s second term as Governor of Louisiana. In her portrait, Jeanne stands quietly in three-quarter length, wearing a white ruffled gown that is
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beautifully depicted by Amans. In her arms, she holds a white ringneck dove, a type of bird native to Africa. Ringneck doves have been bred in captivity for thousands of years and were popular pets in Europe in the early 19th century; it is fitting that Jeanne’s rare and likely expensive pet would be featured in her portrait. Paintings of this era often included symbolism to highlight the child’s innocence, as opposed to earlier styles of children’s portraits, which pictured children as miniature adults. Both Jeanne’s white dress and her pet dove emphasize her purity and innocence. The dove’s reputation as a sweet and docile creature perhaps serve as a metaphor for Jeanne’s disposition. The highly developed landscape in the background of Jeanne Roman’s portrait is rare in the oeuvre of Amans and indicates that he was likely at the family plantation, Cabahanoce, when the portraits were painted as opposed to his studio in New Orleans. A stand of trees is on the left with the river winding behind Jeanne, the plantation with an active smoke stack indicative of a sugar mill along its banks on the right. This is not the first instance of Amans working on family portraits on location at a plantation house; according to John Burton Harter and Mary Louise Tucker, “one of Amans’ first important commissions was to paint the portraits of the Valcour Aime Family, cousins of the Romans.” Louisiana Portraits illustrates Jacques Amans’ portraits of Valcour Aime and his wife and their Continued p. 31