The Bellelli Family
by Edgar Degas, 1867
Artwork Details
Details
- Year
- 1867
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Size
- 200 cm × 250 cm
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Edgar Degas began The Bellelli Family around 1858 while visiting relatives in Florence and continued working on it for nearly a decade. At 200 by 253 centimeters, it would be the largest painting he ever made. The composition shows his aunt Laura, her husband Baron Gennaro Bellelli, and their two young daughters in their drawing room.
Laura wears black mourning for her recently deceased father, whose portrait hangs behind her. The family dynamics feel tense. Laura stands rigidly apart from her husband, who sits turned away in shadow. Their marriage was troubled. One daughter perches on a chair between them; the other stands close to her mother.
Degas kept the painting until 1913, showing it only once in 1867. Its unexpected appearance at auction after his death created a sensation, and the Musée du Luxembourg bought it immediately for 400,000 francs. Since 1986, it's hung at the Musée d'Orsay as a centerpiece of their 19th-century collection.
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About The Bellelli Family
It's at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. Edgar Degas began the painting around 1858 during a stay with his aunt's family in Florence and finished it in Paris around 1867.
Degas's aunt Laura Bellelli (née De Gas) stands on the left with her two daughters, Giovanna and Giulia. Her husband, Baron Gennaro Bellelli, sits turned away at his desk. The couple's unhappy marriage is visible in the composition: Laura and the girls form a tight group, while Gennaro is isolated.
Degas was only about 24 when he started it, and it's remarkably ambitious: a large-scale group portrait that reads like a psychological novel. The spatial arrangement reveals family tensions without any obvious drama. It anticipated Degas's lifelong interest in capturing unguarded human moments.
It's large: 200 cm × 250 cm (78.7 × 98.4 inches). Degas made dozens of preparatory drawings during his Italian visit. The painting blends the formality of traditional Renaissance portraiture with a candid, snapshot-like quality that feels modern.
It predates Impressionism, which Degas would later help define. The work more traditionally composed than his later work but already shows his interest in asymmetrical arrangements, cropped figures, and psychological observation. It bridges academic painting and the modern approach Degas would pioneer.
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