On 25th March 1823 Jean-Baptiste Bertrand was born.
1869. Jean-Baptiste Bertrand [aged 45]. "The Death of Virginie".
1872. Jean-Baptiste Bertrand [aged 48]. "Death of Ophelia".
1875. Jean-Baptiste Bertrand [aged 51]. "Lesbie and the sparrow". The subject of our painting is both a praise of the favorite animal and a lamentation over its death, a common theme in antiquity. It can also bear an erotic significance, with the death of the sparrow, an animal whose melodious voice endowed it with a reputation for sensuality, symbolizing the end of a passionate love. Lesbia was the mistress of the poet Catullus (87-54 BC) to whom he dedicated many poems (half of the 118 that have survived). The wife of a consul, she was famous for her libertine ways and inspired the artists of her time. Catullus is said to have given her the nickname Lesbia in reference to the Greek poet Sappho, who lived on the island of Lesbos. Sappho ran a school for women there, where eroticism and poetry were taught.
1876. Jean-Baptiste Bertrand [aged 52]. "Ophelia".
On 26th September 1887 Jean-Baptiste Bertrand [aged 64] died.