The portrait of Monsieur Jules Dejouy was painted by Edouard Manet in 1879. Jules Dejouy (1815-1894) was a successful lawyer, appointed to the Imperial Court in France in 1849 and a member of the Conseil de l'Ordre. He was also Manet’s older cousin and an important figure in the artist’s life. In this portrait, Manet’s loose, spontaneous brushwork conveys his affection for Dejouy, as well as the sitter’s vitality, intelligence and generous character. Wearing his lawyer’s robes and with a sheaf of papers under one arm, Dejouy seems to have been caught in the middle of a busy day in the courts.
