Portrait of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (1817)

Pierre-Paul Prud’hon: Portrait of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, prince de Bénévent, then prince de Talleyrand (1754-1838) was a French diplomat. He worked successfully from the regime of Louis XVI, through the French Revolution and then under Napoleon I, Louis XVIII, Charles X, and Louis-Philippe. Known since the turn of the 19th century simply by the name Talleyrand, he remains a figure that polarizes opinion. Some regard him as one of the most versatile, skilled and influential diplomats in European history, and some believe that he was a traitor, betraying in turn, the Ancien Régime, the French Revolution, Napoleon, and the Restoration. He is also notorious for leaving the Catholic Church after ordination to the priesthood and consecration to the episcopacy. [Wikipedia]

Love Seduces Innocence... (1809)

Pierre‑Paul Prud'hon: Love Seduces Innocence, Pleasure Entraps, and Remorse Follows

This allegorical painting is more straightforward than most of its kind - little mystery as to the message here.

More about this painting is here.

Psyche Abducted by the Zephyrs (1808)

Pierre-Paul Prud’hon: Psyche Abducted by the Zephyrs

This painting of Prud’hon (wonderful light/dark contrast here) depicts the mythological tale of the abduction of Psyche by the Zephyrs (winds) at the command of Eros (Cupid).

An informative essay about this painting and the painter is here.

Minerva leading the Genius of Arts to Immortality (1806)

Pierre-Paul Prud’hon: Minerva leading the Genius of Arts to Immortality (study)

This is one of several studies that Prud'hon did for a painting that was never finished. It was intended to be a ceiling decoration in the Louvre. Various dates are given for these studies. 1806 is the earliest; I've seen 1811 and 1818 also. This was clearly intended as an allegorical Neoclassic painting. As a goddess, Minerva was often associated with the arts, in an inspirational capacity.

Portrait of the Empress Josephine (1805)

Pierre-Paul Prud'hon: Portrait of the Empress Josephine

Here is Prud'hon's famous portrait of Josephine. He had a close relationship with the imperial family, doing a number of portraits of them and being Josephine's drawing teacher. This portrait of her was considered so flattering that some took it as evidence that Prud'hon was in love with her. By the time of this portrait, Josephine and Napoleon were already beginning to be estranged, which probably accounts for the traces of melancholy in her countenance. This painting clearly anticipates a more Romantic style of painting. The scene depicted is in the landscape of the park at Malmaison (which Josephine herself had created and which was very dear to her heart) - an allusion to the empress's passion for botany. The atmosphere is also very Rousseau-ian, with nature portrayed as a refuge, a friend, a confident, and also mirror of the soul.

Innocence Preferring Love to Wealth (1804)

Pierre-Paul Prud'hon: Innocence Preferring Love to Wealth

 Here is a typical Neoclassic allegorical painting, proclaiming the unlikely victory of "love" over "wealth." I call this strong evidence that Neoclassic painting is idealistic rather than realistic. (Don't get me wrong - there's nothing wrong with idealism. I think we could do with a bit more of it. It just needs to be a bit hard-headed.)

Nude drawings (1800)

From Pierre-Paul Prud'hon, here are two drawings of nude figures.

These would appear to be figure studies rather than actual portraits. Prud'hon did a number of these.

Portrait of Josephine (1800)

Here is Pierre-Paul Prud'hon's Portrait of Josephine de Beauharnais. 

Prud'hon (1758-1823) is variously described as a Romantic and Neoclassic painter; he was much taken with figure drawing, and some of these will later be featured. 

This was not Prud'hon's only painting of Josephine. At the time of this painting, she was not yet Empress Josephine. A later painting by Prud'hon of Empress Josephine is much better known than this one.

About the tumultuous life of Josephine much has been written. Some good synopses are here and here; those desiring a more leisurely treatment may want to read Sandra Gulland's trilogy about her, beginning with The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. (I can attest that these books are all good, if you like historical fiction.)