Carl Fredrik von Breda

• Breda, Carl Fredrik von : Jean Martin de Ron, 1802, 72 x 62, oil, canvas (S 97, Sinebrychoff) (34.4 kB)

Jean Martin de Ron was 13 years old in the portrait painted by his uncle. The soulful young man is standing outdoors under restless, stormy skies. He looks to the side, absorbed in thought, with a faint smile on his lips. There is a childlike softness in Jean Martin's features, but yet his expression conveys a certain adult awareness. He wears a shirt with a lace collar, a yellow waistcoat and a wide blue belt. The accessories are painted with sharp virtuoso strokes of the brush.

Carl Fredrik von Breda's romantic portrait of his nephew matches well with what we know of Jean Martin de Ron. He was a precocious musician and composer, probably a student of the Vaasa-born Berhard Crusell. Jean Martin travelled for the family trading house and he composed his passionately romantic music, among other places in Amsterdam and Paris. He died in Lisbon in 1817 at the age of 28. During his lifetime, Jean Martin de Ron was a recognized composer, but his music has, apparently for no good reason, been later neglected.

After Jean Martin de Ron's portrait arrived in Helsinki, Paul Sinebrychoff wrote to Osvald Sirén that it needed to be cleaned but the portrait of the boy seems to be good, although the model is not exactly stunningly beautiful .