Attributes of Art and Illustration

An antique bust wreathed with laurels (Glory?) can be seen at the center of a collection of art tools and materials, including brushes, a painter’s palette, engraved woodblocks, a sketchbook, a portfolio, a bottle of varnish, a knife, a pencil, poppy seedpods, scrolls of paper and medallion portraits of Tony Johannot and François-Louis Français.

Johannot invested 20,000 francs in this edition of Paul et Virginie, which covered about one tenth of the overall expenses. He was at the time far more famous than Français and this probably explains why his portrait has been placed closer to the wreathed allegory.