Liotard: a Masterpiece in the Mirror

Swiss painter Jean-Etienne Liotard's celebrated painting The Lavergne Family Breakfast is the protagonist of a new exhibition in the Discover series at the National Gallery in London. The idea is that of a real insight into a masterpiece, which is analysed, explored, studied in great detail. In this case the occasion is that of a comparison between oil and pastel, where for the first time the two versions of the work are placed side by side, offering the rare opportunity to discover the difference in technique and the different effect of the two works. Long considered his masterpiece, The Lavergne Family Breakfast is Liotard's largest and most ambitious pastel work. Despite the notorious delicacy of this pictorial technique, Liotard manages to skilfully reproduce very complex textures: the reflections on the metal coffee pot, the shiny ceramic jug, the fabrics and the silky reflections in the black lacquered tray. Liotard worked with different techniques and was an extremely versatile artist. He has created works in pastel, oil, enamel, plaster and even on glass. Unusually he decided to return twenty years later "to the scene of the crime" to reproduce an exact copy of The Lavergne Family Breakfast using the oil technique. A mystery that still fascinates the public and scholars.