Who Is the Countess De Pagès?

(De-)Identifying a Painting by Joseph-Désiré Court

Abstract

This article examines a painting in the Rijksmuseum by the French artist Joseph-Désiré Court (1797-1865). Acquired by the museum in 1885, the painting was long believed to be a portrait of the Countess of Pagès, née Clémence de Vernède de Corneillan, depicted as St Catherine. However, new research conducted as part of the Women of the Rijksmuseum project has corrected this identification and restored the original title ‘St Clare’. This article summarizes the findings regarding the history of the painting’s misidentification, and the biography of the Baroness de Pagès, a notable figure in nineteenth-century France known for her contributions to science and agriculture. The new discoveries not only restore the painting’s rightful place in Court’s oeuvre but also within the Rijksmuseum’s collection of French paintings, underscoring the importance of focusing on under-documented female sitters in art history.