Figure 1.-- Here is the central part of a portrait of the Victorien Sardou family in their house at Marly-le-Roi near Paris. Victorien Sardou (1831-08) was an important French playwrite. The painting is a wonderful view of the home life for an affluent French family in the late 19th century. There are four children in the painting. Note the the boy on the right in front of Mme Sardou with the baby. He is playing with a toy cannon and is wearing a pleated skirt. Click on te image to see the full-size painting which gives a better ida of the magnificent family parlor. The ppainting is in the Carnavalet Museum in Paris.

Here is a portrait of the Victorien Sardou family in their house at Marly-le-Roi near Paris. Victorien Sardou (1831-08) was an important French playwrite. The Sardous family lived at Le Cannet, a village near Cannes, They owned an olive esate. When it failed Victorien's father moved to Paris and dabled at several, mostly academic professions. Victorien was left on his own when his father failed. He was unable to continue his medical studies. He had some difficult years, but his writing proved a success. His best know work was "La Tosca" (1887). The play was the basis on which Giacomo Puccini's famed opera "Tosca" (1900) is based. The fedora hat is named after another play. The Sardou family portrait was painted by Auguste de la Brely (1838-1906) in 187?. The museum legend reds, "Auguste de La Brely (1836-1906) Victorien Sardou (1831-1908) et sa famille dans le grand salon de leur maison de Marly-le-Roi vers 1875. Il fut l’un des auteurs dramatiques les plus féconds et les plus applaudis de son temps. Ses plus grands succès (Théodora, Fédora, la Tosca, Gismonda, Patrie, Madame Sans-Gêne, etc.) furent souvent écrits pour Sarah Bernard. Le décor de son salon illustre bien le retour du goût pour le XVIIIe siècle dans la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle. Don de Mme Victorien Sardou, 1932 " The painting is a wonderful view of the home life for an affluent French family in the late 19th century. There are three children in the painting. Note the the boy on the right playing with a gun. He is wearing a pleated skirt. The portrait is in the Carnavalet Museum in Paris.

Victorien Sardou (1831-1908)

Here is a portrait of the Victorien Sardou family in their house at Marly-le-Roi near Paris. Victorien Sardou (1831-08) was an important French playwrite. The Sardous family lived at Le Cannet, a village near Cannes, They owned an olive esate. When it failed Victorien's father moved to Paris and dabled at several, mostly academic professions. Victorien was left on his own when his father failed. He was unable to continue his medical studies. He had some difficult years, but his writing proved a success. His best know work was "La Tosca" (1887). The play was the basis on which Giacomo Puccini's famed opera "Tosca" (1900) is based. The fedora hat is named after another play.

Auguste de la Brely (1838-1906)

Portrait

The museum legend reads, "Auguste de La Brely (1836-1906) Victorien Sardou (1831-1908) et sa famille dans le grand salon de leur maison de Marly-le-Roi vers 1875. Il fut l’un des auteurs dramatiques les plus féconds et les plus applaudis de son temps. Ses plus grands succès (Théodora, Fédora, la Tosca, Gismonda, Patrie, Madame Sans-Gêne, etc.) furent souvent écrits pour Sarah Bernard. Le décor de son salon illustre bien le retour du goût pour le XVIIIe siècle dans la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle. Don de Mme Victorien Sardou, 1932." This would translate as something like, "Auguste of Brely (1836-1906) Victorien Sardou (1831-1908) and his family in the large living room of their house of Marly-le-Roi about 1875. He was one of the dramatic authors most fertile and most applauded of its time. His greater successes (Théodora, Fédora, Tosca, Gismonda, Fatherland, Mrs Sans-Gêne, etc.) were often written for Sarah Bernard. The decoration of its living room illustrates well the return of the taste for the 18th century in the second half of the 19th century. Gift of Mrs. Victorien Sardou, 1932." The painting is a wonderful view of the home life for an affluent French family in the late 19th century.

Sardou Children

Sardou married his benefactress, Mlle de Brecourt. She died after only 8 years. He married again after the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71) and the birth of the Third Republic to Mlle Soulie, the daughter of the learnered Eudore Soulie, superintended the Musee de Versailles. There were three children, two boys, and a girl in the painting. Unfortuntely we do not know their names. The portait is a great view of French family life, but the family members seem strangly disengaged from each other.

Younger boy

The younger Sardou boy on the right in the Brely portrait is on the floor in front of Mme Sardou and the baby. He is playing with a great toy cannon. It is a toy that any boy woyld give his eye teeth for. I certainly wish I had had on like that when I was a kid. (The Lincoln boys had one like it in the White House. It actually worked and the boys fired it at the President's cabinent!) Even without knowing that the child is a boy, the cannon tells us with consideravle certainty that thechild was a boy. The younger boy is wearing a blue dress with a lace collar and pleated skirt. He wears white socks and black strap shoes. He looks to be about 5 years old.

Older boy and girl

The two older Sardou children in the Brely portrait are off to the left on an chair and stool. They arecdressed in their best outfits. They look to be about 8-11 years old. They are depicted as looking at book together. The girl wears a white dress with a blue hair bow and sash. She also has color-coordinated blue socks and black strap shoes. Her brother weaks a grey knickers suit. He has an Eton collar and floppy bow. Note that the brown stockings do not match the suit. He looks to be wearing black pumps, but not not strap shoes.

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Created: 10:20 PM 3/26/2008
Last edited: 10:20 PM 3/26/2008