Portrait of a Schoolboy 1879

Gustave Caillebotte captured this ‘Portrait of a Schoolboy’ in oils, a window into the late 19th century. The young man's gaze, though direct, holds a certain melancholy, an echo of the classical contrapposto seen in ancient sculptures. Note the dark coat, almost a uniform, and the high collar. Such garments weren't merely clothing; they were symbols of social status and the expectations of the era. Think back to the somber attire of Renaissance portraits. The boy’s dark clothing, set against a dark background, bears a resemblance with the ‘black bile’ of melancholic disposition in antique tradition. This somberness is a motif that recurs throughout history. From the draped figures in Roman funerary art to the veiled subjects of Romantic paintings, this visual language speaks to our shared experience of loss and introspection. This archetype persists, reminding us that while styles change, the underlying human emotions remain tethered to a collective past.