The Times Literary Supplement in an essay by Maria C Scott reports on the discovery of portraits by the Parisian studio of Nadar of Jeanne Duval, the long-term mistress of Charles Baudelaire and the 'Black Venus'. Scott examined the portraits and discovered further likely portraits in the collection of the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Scott suggests that the portraits rewrite the representation of Duvall based on Baudelaire's biased accounts, and concludes 'What these photographs confirm above all is Duval’s strength of character, and that is surely what Manet was trying to capture in his portrait of her.'
See: Maria C Scott, ' Portraits of the ‘Black Venus'. Newly discovered photographs of Baudelaire’s muse', TLS, 23 January 2026, no. 6397 or: https://www.the-tls.com/lives/biography/newly-discovered-photographs-baudelaire-muse-essay-maria-c-scott (paywall)
Image: Two previously unknown photographs of Jeanne Duval from the archives at the Bibliothèque nationale de France
Comments