The Bellelli Family

Frequently when one thinks of Edgar Degas they think of paintings of dancers, racehorses, and the social scene in Paris.  However he had quite an educational background and even studied in Rome where he copied the work of Renaissance masters.  During this time he became quite a talented portrait painter.  One of his most famous portraits is The Bellelli Family. 

This insightful family portrait was painted over a number of years, between 1858 and 1867.  In 1858, while staying with his aunt’s family in Naples he made his first studies for his future masterpiece.  When he returned to France in 1859 he had a studio large enough to allow him to begin work on The Bellelli Family painting on a large imposing canvas which he intended to exhibit at the Salon.  However, the painting was left unfinished until 1867.

The brilliantly composed portrait portrays Degas’ aunt, his father’s sister Laure Bellelli, her two preteen daughters, Giula and Giovanna, and their father, the Baron Gennaro Bellelli.  In the scene we see the family situated in the parlor, with a fireplace, mirror, clock and a framed drawing of Degas’ grandfather, Hilare, who had recently died, hanging on the wall next to his aunt.  The mother is dresses in black as she mourns the death of her father and the girls are primarily dressed in black, with all the colors of the painting being rather restrained. 

In this painting, as in others, Degas was drawn to the tensions between men and women.  In The Bellelli Family we can see the strained relationship between the mother and father figures and the dysfunctional family.  The mother’s arm rests on one daughter, while the other daughter sits on a chair with one leg tucked under her dress and her head turned toward the father perhaps portraying a link to him versus the mother.  The father sits in a black chair with his back to the viewer and we see his shadowed side profile.  The vertical lines of the frame, candlestick, and table leg draw a separation between the father and the rest of the family.  None of the family members make eye contact.  Each member of the family seems isolated.  The dimensions, somber colors, and open perspectives of the doorway and cut-off mirror all work together to intensify the feeling of oppression in the room.  The seemingly playful seated position of the younger daughter seems to contrast the weight of the atmosphere while her older sister seems to already have succumb to the weight of adult conventions, standing properly with hands folded with restraint. 

This now well known family portrait was not shown publicly until all of the people represented in the painting were no longer living.