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The various schools of the old masters were represented by a Raphael Madonna, a Virgin by Leonardo da Vinci, a nymph by Correggio, a woman by Titian, an adoration of the Magi by Veronese, an assumption of the Virgin by Murillo, a Holbein portrait, a monk by Velazquez, a martyr by Ribera, a village fair by Rubens, two Flemish landscapes by Teniers, three little genre paintings by Gerard Dow, Metsu, and Paul Potter, two canvases by Gericault and Prud'hon, plus seascapes by Backhuysen and Vernet.
<b>MAYER, MARIE FRANÇOISE CONSTANCE.</b> As early as 1806 this artist received a gold medal from the Paris Salon, awarded to her picture of "Venus and Love Asleep." Born 1775, died 1821. She studied under Suvée, Greuze, and Prud'hon. There are various accounts of the life of Mlle. Mayer. That of M. Charles Guenllette is the authority followed here. It is probable that Mlle.
Mayer came under the influence of Prud'hon as early as 1802, possibly before that time. Prud'hon, a sensitive man, absorbed in his art, had married at twenty a woman who had no sympathy with his ideals, and when she realized that he had no ambition, and was likely to be always poor, her temper got the better of any affection she had ever felt for him.
It is old, it lacks originality, it smacks of Prud'hon! The Correggio of the décolleté! It is like Tassaert, it is of the sprightly kind! I would never paint so, that is what I say about it!" Guy had no reply for this imperturbable moralist and he regretted that he had lost time in speaking to him. But his uncontrollable rage choked him. Enough remained however to show all his feelings to Vaudrey.
Prud'hon, in humiliation and despair, lived in a solitude almost complete. It was with difficulty that Mlle. Mayer persuaded this master to receive her as a pupil; but this being gained, both these painters had studios in the Sorbonne from 1809 to 1821. At the latter date all artists were obliged to vacate the Sorbonne ateliers to make room for some new department of instruction. Mlle.
Mayer had been for some time in a depressed condition, and her friends had been anxious about her. Whether leaving the Sorbonne had a tendency to increase her melancholy is not known, but her suicide came as a great surprise and shock to all who knew her, especially to Prud'hon, who survived her less than two years. Prud'hon painted several portraits of Mlle.
This has led to an under-valuation of her ability, and both the inferior works of Prud'hon and bad imitations of him have been attributed to her. M. Guenllette writes that when Mlle. Mayer studied under Greuze she painted in his manner, and he inclines to the opinion that some pictures attributed to Greuze were the work of his pupil.
The lives, too, of many of these cultivators of the arts of peace had a tragic close. Haydon's fate made a deep impression in England, because it was an exceptional case; while, of the modern painters of France, whose career was far more harmonious and successful than his, Gros drowned himself, Robert cut his throat, Prud'hon died in misery, and Greuze was buried in Potter's Field.
Many of her drawings are in possession of her family. She also executed some lithographs, such as "Souvenirs of 1812," 1831, etc. <b>MARIE LOUISE, EMPRESS OF FRANCE.</b> 1791-1846. She studied under Prud'hon. Her "Girl with a Dove" is in the Museum of Besançon. <b>MARLEF, CLAUDE.</b> Bronze medal at Paris Exposition, 1900. Born at Nantes.
In the same way she imitated Prud'hon, and this critic thinks it by no means certain that the master finished her work, as has been alleged. In the Museum at Nancy are Mlle. Mayer's portraits of Mme. and Mlle. Voiant; in the Museum of Dijon is an ideal head by her, and in the Bordeaux Gallery is her picture, called "Confidence."
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