Antique 19th century French portrait of a girl on her first communion by the abbot Louis-Marie Lambert (1814-1892). She is portrayed in a communion habit with rosary and missal, holding a candle against a dark blue-green colored background. The top with the dedication, "Précieux souvenir car vous serez fidèle" / "Precious souvenir because you will be faithful". Dated July 1873. Signed lower left, ma demoiselle Alix de Sainte-Marie, L' abbé Lambert. To the lower right, Bourg la Reine, juillet 1873. The back of the canvas with the following dedication: En souvenir de dia jece communion de Alice de Sainte-Marie 31 juillet 1873 a Bourg la Reine. (In memory of the first communion of Alice de Sainte-Marie on July 31, 1873 in Bourg la Reine). Housed in a gilded wood frame, likely original. In overall good antique condition with general wear commensurate with age and use. The frame with lacks, in particular along the edges, wear and touch-up repairs. The portrait showing typical craquelure surface, two spots of paint loss visible on lower half of the gown near the rosary. Frame measures 16 3/8" x 13 1/4" x 1 1/4" deep. Canvas measures 12 3/4" x 9 3/4".
Biography of the abbot Lambert can be found in the following link below. He was a very skilled illustrator and painter. He was moved by the fate of the deaf and mute. Combining drawing and description, he published in 1865 the first bilingual French/sign language dictionary. This unparalleled masterpiece was ahead of its time: not content with a basic parallelization of the lexical units of each of the two languages, as all current collections were, it placed each sign in its context and indicated how to translate thousands of French expressions. Concerned for the well-being of deaf and mute women forced into destitution, together with Bl. Pierre Bonhomme (1803-1861), priest of the diocese of Cahors and founder of des Sœurs de Notre-Dame du Calvaire, he opened a home for deaf and mute women and girls.