Joseph Henri François van Lerius (Belgian, 1823-1876), Oil on Oak Cradled Mahogany Panel “Esmeralda and and Her Pet Goat Djali”, depicting Esmeralda, a character in Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, reclining and hugging her constant companion pet goat Djali. Signed upper right J. Van Lerius and inscribed, signed, and dated on the reverse: “Je sous signé/declare avoir/peint ce tableau/J van Lerius/Anvers/1868,” in original mahogany frame with gilt insert.
32 in. x 64 3/8 in., Overall 39 ½ in. x 64 in.

Van Lerius studied in Brussels and later taught at the Academy in Antwerp. Among the Belgian Romanticists he was known as ‘the painter of women’ who he painted with classical precision no matter if they were historical, mythical or fictional beings or portraits of the glamorous ladies of society. The artist was commercially successful and for many years, had an agent in New York. One of his works, Premier ne, was purchased by Queen Victoria and is presently hanging in Windsor Castle. Van Lerius visited the subject of Esmeralda and her talented goat more than once in his career. In 1848 his work, La Esmeralda meditant sur le norm de Phoebus, received a gold medal in that year’s Brussels Exposition and was purchased by the Royal Museum of Fine Art in Brussels the same year. In 1887 the present work is specifically mentioned in the entry on the artist in the Iconographic Encyclopedia of the Arts and Sciences, vol. 3 Philadelphia, 1887, p. 217.