Cladue Mellan, an artist known primarily as a portraitist, is represented in the Hermitage collection by 42 superb drawn portraits. These outwardly simple and modest works, produced in most cases with black chalk, are invariably vibrant and expressive, splendidly conveying the character of his subjects. Some of them have been executed with especial subtlety.This is true of the Hermitage portrait of Henriette Marie Buade de Frontenac, the wife of the state official Henri Louis Habert de Montmort, to whose home the artist was a fairly frequent visitor. The pale blue background imparts a special lightness to the picture. The pale face with a tender glow framed by golden hair and the black dress that is no more than indicated form a single nobly restrained range of colours. This drawing is among the finest pastel portraits that are a rare aspect of the artist's oeuvre.