Art item, original and authentic painting with wood frame, museum quality. Louis Hector Leroux (27 December 1829, Verdun - 11 November 1900, Angers) was a French painter in the academic style. "Chevalier de La Legion d Honneur in 1977", Knight of The Legion of Honor. Training as a wigmaker, he briefly worked in that profession in his birthplace at the same time as taking a drawing course in the town's art college, winning all its art prizes. These prizes earned Leroux a small bursary to go to Paris to study further, and he entered the Ecole nationale superieure des Beaux-Arts in 1849. He studied in the studio of Francois-Edouard Picot, producing copies of illustrations and museum works to supplement his income. He won the second prize in the Prix de Rome in 1857, staying in Rome from then until 1874. Shortly after his arrival in Rome the French state commissioned him to produce a painted copy of Titian's Sacred and Profane Love, whilst he later also produced copies for the Gobelins manufactory. He travelled from Rome to the rest of Italy, to Greece, Asia Minor, Turkey and Egypt, making occasional return trips to Paris. From 1863 onwards he painted almost solely classical subjects, along with occasional historical or biblical subjects. His daughter Laura Leroux was also a painter. A painter fond of Antiquity, executed for the 1885 Salon a picture entitled "The mysterious stone of Pompeii". The topic suited the taste of the Second Empire public for works of Greco-Roman inspiration. Contrary to his Neo-Greek contemporaries, Hector Leroux does not attempt to reconstitute an anecdotic Pompeian scene but induce his public into following the lead of an archeological enigma: the existence of a black stone in a remote district of Pompeii, at the origin of a secret religious devotion. The present analysis tries to see through that imaginary mystery in the light of the artist at work and the findings at Pompeii during his stay in Italy. History of this Museum Quality painting: Pompeii was an ancient Italian city. It was very prosperous until Mount Vesuvius erupted burying the whole city in volcanic ash for hundreds of years. This occurred in 79 A.D. and was documented by Pliny The younger who witnessed it from a far. It was first discovered again in the 15th century but not excavated until 1741. What they found underneath was a wonderfully intact city. The above painting was created in 1885 by Louis Hector Leroux, a French painter. It is entitled The Mysterious Stone Of Pompeii. In French, Italy, La pierre mysterieuse de Pompeii. Our Pompeii lady here is standing in between two doorways on their thresholds. Immersed fully in the in between world , she peers into a stone or piece of glass. It is believed this was used as a mirror. A good site to read more and to see the actual inspired doorway for this painting would be In this painting, we can feel strong emotions for her standing on the threshold only due to the fact that her city gets destroyed. Does she suffer the same fate? The painting was made over a thousand years later infusing it with Victorian attributes. Our lady appears to be so closely examining her face, standing on tip toes and squashing her face against the glass. A window would not have existed during the time of Pompeii, so this is the artist taking creative license to his work. This make us come to the conclusion that she has inkling of danger and is trying to peer into the next doorway for a heads up. Source from Pompeii Pictures. This wood panel oil painting especially has been made by Louis Hector Leroux for the Director of the "Ecole Normale" Monsieur G. Perrot. (it is signed and written on the left bottom part of the painting, front side). The back side is also signed "La Pierre Mysterieuse de Pompeii". Dimensions of the wood panel oil painting only (without the frame): Width 7.1 inches x High 12.8 inches x Depth 0.3 inches. More infos on demand. Available right now from our location in France, Lorraine, North East of France.

Museum quality.
Dimensions: H 20.87 in. x W 15.36 in. x D 2.37 in.
(H 53 cm x W 39 cm x D 6 cm).