Remi-Fursy Descarsin

Portrait of Dr. du C. after saving a patient while Death, surprised, admits defeat

Remi-Fursy Descarsin, René-Rémi Fursy Descarsin, also spelled as Remi-Furcy Descarsin (4 July 1747 – 14 November 1793) was a French painter and possibly, miniaturist. He is known for his realistic portrait paintings. He died at a young age as a victim during the phase of the French Revolution referred to as the Reign of Terror. Life Descarsin was born on 4 July 1747 in Chauny, in the parish of Saint-Martin (Aisne), to Armand Descarsin, a lawyer and prosecutor of the King (avocat et procureur du roi) of the Bailiwick of Chauny and Royal Notary, and Barbe Desains. There is no firm information about his artistic training. His wife appears to have been uneducated. He must have moved to Paris after 1774. In 1783 his wife obtained in Paris a separation of goods from her husband in order to protect her assets from the erratic behaviour of her husband whom she described as a depressed and suicidal man suffering from an incurable skin disease. This suggests his wife must have possessed some independent fortune.

The Count of Provence (also known as "Monsieur"), the brother of French king Louis XVI and future king Louis XVIII, was a supporter of the Salon de la Correspondance. It is not clear whether Descarsin came to the attention of the Count of Provence through the Salon. From 1782 to 1789 he received commissions from the Count of Provence. He painted multiple copies of portraits of the Count starting from 1783. The copies were handed out by the Count to his entourage, persons he met on his travels or any other person he wished to honour. In 1783, he painted a portrait of the Count of Provence in the costume of Grand Master of the combined orders of Saint-Lazare and Notre-Dame du Mont-Carmel, wearing the collars of these orders, the Order of the Golden Fleece and the Order of the Holy Spirit, after a portrait painting by François-Hubert Drouais. and poets composed poems about them. The sisters performed on occasion with leading musicians of their time such as the violinist Gervais and the cellist Jean-Louis Duport.

On 8 April 1788 a request was remitted on behalf of Descarsin to Cromot de Fougy, the superintendent of buildings and finances of the Count of Provence. In the request the artists applied for the certificate as painter of the Count, which, if granted, would allow him to identify himself publicly as the painter of the Count. The certificate was granted on 4 May 1788. On 25 April 1789, he submitted a self-portrait painting to the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpturein Paris in support of his application to become as a member. The Académie denied his application. The reason for the refusal may lay in the low opinion which Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre, director of the Académie and first painter to the King, had formed of Descarsin's character in his role as the organiser of the very profitable concerts of his daughters. He was a specialist portrait painter working in oil. It is not clear whether he worked also in pastel, which was popular at the time. His portraits usually depict the sitter at half-length or seated, although a few full standing portraits are known.

Descarsin's oldest known painting is Father with his son dated 1771. He tried to innovate the art of portraiture by adding allegorical elements such as in the Portrait of Dr. du C. after saving a patient while Death, surprised, admits defeat. It depicts a doctor seated in his room, wearing a nightcap and robe, looking with a triumphant smile at the viewer and pointing to a chessboard. On the other side of the chessboard, Death in the form of a skeleton veiled by a transparent cloth, rises from his armchair, making a gesture of spite with his left hand. The doctor apparently just defeated a mortal disease of one of his patients. The sitter for the portrait was Henry Ducommun, the family doctor of the Descarsins who had accepted to receive the portrait in return for the services he provided to the family.