It is as much a figure from a parable as reality observed. A year later, Bonvin chose another manner when portraying a young boy in a Louis Philippe armchair. The neatly dressed sitter belongs to the establishment, but his expression is one of repressed distress. His intense blue eyes stare at the viewer and his lips are pressed tightly. One hand, crossed over the other, hangs limply and looks shriveled.
Infirmity is suggested rather than depicted.
In its miniature size, this is one of the great French portraits of the mid-19th century. The head of a young woman in profile, bent forward, with a shadow over her eyes, is set against a circular crisscross, like some halo of suffering. The somber mood is reminiscent of Rembrandt. He must have taken great pleasure in sketching a toddler ensconced in his baby chair, his cheeks puffed out in an effort at concentration. The child awkwardly rattles his knife over an apple too big for his fingers in a futile attempt at cutting it.