XperDunn plays Piano
June 21st, 2013

Improv – Aeneid

(The Aeneid: a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil (circa 25 BC) that tells the legend of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy and became the prime ancestor of the Romans.)

The title card uses, as background, a portrait of Madame de Talleyrand, AKA Madame Charles Maurice de Talleyrand Périgord (Noël Catherine Verlée, 1761–1835), later Princesse de Bénévent

The Painting can be seen on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC and it was done by Baron François Gérard (French, Rome 1770–1837 Paris):
Gérard, a student of David, was first painter to the empress Joséphine while the sitter, born Catherine Verlée, was one of the celebrated beauties of her time. She seduced her first husband, George Francis Grand, in one of a series of liaisons that culminated in her becoming the wife of the statesman Talleyrand. However by the time this portrait was painted, about 1805, he had tired of her frivolity, and the couple had separated. Thus the picture not a pendant to either of the portraits of Talleyrand (by Gérard and by Prud’hon) that hang nearby.

Madame Charles Maurice de Talleyrand Périgord (Noël Catherine Verlée, 1761–1835), later Princesse de Bénévent – Painted by Baron François Gérard (French, Rome 1770–1837 Paris)