MALIBRAN'S PORTRAIT IN THE NATIONAL GALLERY.
[To TIM EDITOR OF Till " BrIOTAT01.1 SrR,---May I call your attention to an artiole published in the Temps, issue of August 31st, of which the following lines are an abridged translation P- "The lately acquired portrait of la. Malibran in the French section of the National Gallery is wrongly attributed to Ingres. On this picture la Malibran appears to be between twenty-five and twenty-eight years of age. Now it should not be classed among Ingres's early works; for, when Is Malibran was portrayed—some time between 1832 and 1836—Ingres's career had reached its full glory. He left for Rome, as Director of the Villa Medici, in 1834: la Malibran was in Paris at the time. Moreover, should Ingres ever have painted the famous singer, he, being methodical and tidy, would no doubt have entered into some notebook, as was his custom, the date of this important achieve- ment: no such mention is made in his papers In 1832, la Malibran was the guest of Horace Vernet and the young French artists of the Villa Medici ; the portrait might thus have been painted by one of Horace Vernet's young companions ; it can hardly be attributed to Signol, and the painter must be sought among those who resided in Rome, as pensioners of the French Government, between Signol and Ingres's time."
If the above-stated arguments can in any way be justified, is it not advisable that the Trustees of the National Gallery should make the necessary inquiries concerning the authenticity of this portrait P—I am, Sir, &c., E. H. E.
[If neither dates• nor technique are incompatible with Ingres's authorship, is the absence of a notebook entry con- clusive ? Did the painter invariably enter unfinished work P —ED. Spectator.]
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