M O N O D G R A P H I E S

a website dedicated to the memory of Adolphe Monod (1802-1856)

Portraits of Jean Monod

Portraits of the French Protestant pastors of the nineteenth century are sometimes difficult to find. Most of those ministers did not belong to the most fortunate classes that would resort to painters and engravers, and photography was not available yet. For instance, we have two portraits of Adolphe Monod (one of which shows him on his deathbed), one single picture of Louis Meyer, a silhouette of Charles Scholl and so far I have not been able any portrait whatsoever of Jean Pédézert. However, we have quite some pictures of Jean Monod. The following collection might not be exhaustive.

The first (“Portrait 1”) shows Jean Monod at the age of 28. Gustave Monod mentions it in his book La famille Monod:

“… his face had a pleasant expression revealing his intelligence and kindness. The memory of his appearance has been conserved by a beautiful portrait made – together with a portrait of my mother – by a very skilful painter, Mr Juül, in Copenhagen at the time of their wedding. These two life-size oil paintings have real value, both for the artistic skill involved and for their great likeness. Juül has made several copies for members of the de Coninck family. I am the lucky possessor of the originals.”

In Gustave Monod’s book one can find the following picture on page 49:

In other books published by the Monod family there are portraits that certainly have the same origin:

A closer look at young Jean Monod:

The Temple de l’Oratoire in Paris appears to have a copy of “Portrait 1”, which might even be the original:

The book Cent cinquante ans après, which has been published by Julien, François, and Bernard Monod in 1943, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the wedding of Jean Monod and Louise-Philippine de Coninck, contains another portrait (« Portrait 2 »). The caption says that the portrait had been made “after a drawing by Miss Mu[n]ier-Romilly in 1821”. In 1821, Jean was 56 years old, but the man on the picture appears to be much younger. Perhaps the drawing had been made much earlier?

In the Bulletin de la société de l’histoire du protestantisme of April-June 1936 there is an « engraving after a drawing by Miss Caroline d’Ocagne, of 1826” (“Portrait 3”). This portrait appears to have been made at the same period as “Portrait 2”. It does not seem very likely that it actually shows Jean Monod at the age of 61.

In his above-mentioned book La famille Monod Gustave Monod mentions yet another portrait (“Portrait 4”):

“A second portrait of my father at a more mature age was made by Mrs. Munier, a famous artist, in Geneva. It has been engraved. I still possess some copies of the engraving.”

This portrait is shown on page 127 of the book:

The caption says “Jean Monod at the age of 56, after Mrs. Munier-Romilly”.

Apparently there is some confusion regarding the dates and origins of the portraits. We believe that the information provided by Gustave Monod is most reliable and that “Portrait 2” and “Portrait 3” most likely show Jean Monod at some intermediate date.

Finally, we have found an undated photograph of Jean Monod on the Internet (here). The photograph (“Portrait 5”) appears to have been taken by Achille Bouis, a photographer in Montauban.

It is difficult to be sure whether this is really a picture of Jean Monod, but if it is, the resemblance with his son Billy is quite remarkable.

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