Madame Alexandre Lethière, née Rosa Meli, and Her Daughter, Letizia

Madame Alexandre Lethière, née Rosa Meli, and Her Daughter, Letizia is a 1815 graphite drawing by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres. This exquisite double portrait was executed during Ingres’s foundational years in Rome, where he refined his distinctive Neoclassical style. Rosa Meli was the wife of Guillaume Guillon Lethière, the prominent Director of the French Academy in Rome, making her a central figure in the city's expatriate art community.

The work demonstrates Ingres’s supreme command of linear precision, utilizing the focused medium of graphite to delineate contour and form. The composition captures the intimate connection between the mother and the young child, Letizia, who leans gently into her mother's side. Ingres renders the details of their fashionable Empire-style attire with meticulous care, contrasting the textures of the fabric against the smoothly modeled faces. This focus on realistic detail within an overall classical framework is a hallmark of Ingres’s portraiture, highlighting his commitment to academic draftsmanship.

This portrait study, classified simply as a drawing, provides vital insight into Ingres’s working methods, often serving as a preliminary step for larger commissions, though Madame Alexandre Lethière, née Rosa Meli, and Her Daughter, Letizia stands as a finished work in its own right. The piece emphasizes subjects encompassing women and children, contributing significantly to the tradition of European portraiture during this period. The drawing is a celebrated part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s renowned collection, where it allows scholars to study the foundational techniques of one of France’s great academic masters. High-quality prints derived from the original often circulate via public domain art initiatives, extending the study and appreciation of Ingres's output.