Madame Philippe Panon Desbassayns de Richemont (Jeanne Eglé Mourgue, 1778–1855) and Her Son, Eugène (1800–1859)

Executed in oil on canvas in 1802, the vertical double portrait depicts a young woman in a white dress seated on a blue-cushioned chair, its back draped with a red shawl. She is shown in left profile but turns her head to engage the viewer, while her son stands behind the chair, his long blond hair loosely framing his face as he plays with her bracelet, her hand resting on his right shoulder. The composition, comparable to Benoist's earlier Portrait of Madeleine, reflects a polished Neoclassical handling of drapery and accessories.

The painting was long attributed to Jacques-Louis David before Margaret A. Oppenheimer reassigned it to Benoist in 1996. It measures 116.8 × 89.5 cm and is housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Marie-Guillemine Benoist painted this double portrait in 1802, and it was exhibited that year at the Paris Salon under the title Portrait d'une jeune femme avec un enfant (Souces 1, 2, 3). For many years the painting was attributed to Jacques-Louis David, but in 1996 Margaret A. Oppenheimer reattributed it to Benoist. The work entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1953 as a gift from Julia A. Berwind. No details of an original commission or earlier ownership are recorded in the provided sources.

The painting is held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it was accessioned as a gift from Julia A. Berwind in 1953. Its exhibition history includes the Paris Salon of 1802, where it was shown under the title Portrait d’une jeune femme avec un enfant.

Exhibited at the Salon of 1802 under the title Portrait d'une jeune femme avec un enfant, the work long carried an attribution to Jacques-Louis David. It was correctly reassigned to Marie-Guillemine Benoist by art historian Margaret A. Oppenheimer in 1996. Since then, scholarship has frequently compared the painting to Benoist's slightly earlier Portrait of Madeleine, noting similar composition and the Panon Desbassayns de Richemont family's significant role in the history of slavery on Bourbon (Réunion).

This reattribution and contextualization have situated the piece within broader discussions of Benoist's career, her place among David's pupils, and the colonial networks her portrait subjects inhabited.

The painting's legacy was shaped by a long-standing misattribution to Jacques-Louis David, corrected in 1996 when Margaret A. Oppenheimer re-ascribed it to Marie-Guillemine Benoist. Since then, it has often been compared to Benoist's earlier Portrait de Madeleine for its compositional similarities and because the Panon Desbassayns de Richemont family played a significant role in the history of slavery on Réunion. The double portrait also formerly led to the misidentification of the boy as a girl due to his long hair.

Now held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the work has gained scholarly interest for its shifting attribution and its subject’s historical context.

This oil portrait, created by Marie Guillemine Benoist in 1802, depicts Jeanne Eglé Mourgue, Madame Philippe Panon Desbassayns de Richemont, with her young son, Eugène. The work was likely exhibited at the Paris Salon the same year. For many decades, it was mistakenly attributed to Jacques-Louis David, but scholarly research in 1996 definitively identified Benoist as the artist, restoring recognition to her significant contribution to early 19th-century French portraiture.