Edmondo and Thérèse Morbilli

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Degas Edmondo And Therese Morbilli: Introduction

Thérèse Morbilli faces us from the left of a low red sofa. Edmondo sits along its back at the right, turning his head toward the viewer. A dark green patterned wall fills much of the space behind them, while a doorway opens onto a lighter room at the far right. Their faces are carefully described. Large passages of her skirt and red shawl remain broad, rubbed and visibly unresolved. In this portrait, finish varies from one part of the canvas to another. ^{[1] [4]}

This is the National Gallery of Art’s Edmondo and Thérèse Morbilli, accession 1963.10.125, dated about 1865. Thérèse was Degas’s sister; Edmondo Morbilli was her husband. The National Gallery calls this painting unfinished and records that it remained in Degas’s studio when he died. Another Degas portrait of the same couple is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, but it shows a different composition. ^[1][2]

Edmondo and Thérèse Morbilli at a Glance

• ArtistEdgar Degas (1834–1917)
• Owner and numberNational Gallery of Art, Washington, 1963.10.125
• DateAbout 1865
• MediumOil on canvas
• Size117.2 × 89.7 cm
• SittersDegas’s sister Thérèse and her husband Edmondo Morbilli
• Distinguishing detailsRed shawl; Edmondo perched on the sofa back; green patterned wall; open doorway at right

Contents

1. Introduction
2. At a Glance
3. Two Sitters, Uneven Finish
4. What “Unfinished” Can Mean Here
5. A Separate Morbilli Portrait in Boston
6. From Degas’s Studio to the National Gallery

Two Sitters, Uneven Finish

Degas gives Thérèse and Edmondo different places within the furniture. She sits upright at the left; he is perched on the sofa’s back rather than in the seat beside her. Both look outward, but they are not arranged as a rigid pair of matching busts. Their poses create a relation across the width of the sofa. The National Gallery’s description also notes an indistinct figure-like shape through the doorway, beyond Edmondo. It is visible but cannot safely be named as another sitter. ^[1]

The unfinished surface is not merely a small blank corner. In Thérèse’s dress and shawl, paint has been scraped or rubbed back. Dark lines suggest changes Degas had considered. The museum contrasts these broad, uncertain areas with the faces, which are much more carefully worked. That contrast lets a viewer see decisions that a uniformly polished portrait might hide. It does not tell us exactly how Degas intended every passage to look if he had continued. ^[1]

The patterned wall is active too. Its vertical stripes and floral forms hold the figures in a specific interior while emphasizing the pale face and red shawl at the left. The golden strip near the opposite edge and the bright doorway give the scene depth without turning the room into a neutral background. These visible choices make the portrait a study of setting as well as of two people. ^[1]

What “Unfinished” Can Mean Here

The National Gallery identifies the canvas as unfinished and says it was still in Degas’s studio at his death. That is an object-history statement, not proof that the artist rejected the picture or was dissatisfied with the sitters. No directly consulted source supplies a private reason for stopping. The visible reworking and unequal levels of detail are enough to describe its present condition. ^[1]

A later National Gallery research account also notes that the work underwent multiple reworkings, some by Degas and some by another hand. That warning matters: every mark now visible should not automatically be called a last decision by the artist. The object’s current appearance has a history beyond a single sitting. The page therefore confines close looking to what can be observed and uses the museum’s wording when discussing making and alteration. ^[1][3]

Thérèse’s shawl is a useful place to pause. Its red colour immediately pulls the eye toward her, yet its edges and modelling remain loose. Her face is more settled. This does not make the shawl unimportant. It gives the portrait a visible tension between a recognizable person and a surface still being worked. Edmondo’s darker clothing, the sofa and wall create a quieter field around the second face. ^[1]

Watch: Edgar Degas

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A Separate Morbilli Portrait in Boston

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, also owns a double portrait of Edmondo and Thérèse Morbilli, about 1865. Its composition is different: the figures appear closer together, and Thérèse wears pale blue with her hand near her cheek. Both paintings show the same couple, but their images and ownership histories belong to distinct works. ^[2]

For this Washington canvas, the simplest identification test is visual. Find Thérèse’s red shawl and the low sofa, Edmondo seated along its back, the green vertical wall pattern and the open doorway beyond him. Then check the owner number 1963.10.125. The Boston painting does not have this arrangement. ^[1][2]

From Degas’s Studio to the National Gallery

The National Gallery records the portrait in Degas’s possession, then with his niece Jeanne Fevre, and later with dealer Paul Rosenberg. Chester Dale bought it in July 1932. It entered the National Gallery as part of his 1963 bequest. These details belong to the Washington painting. They should not be copied to the Boston portrait because the sitters happen to be the same. ^[1]

The present painting gives a rare chance to look at a family portrait as both an image of two known people and an object that still exposes work in progress. Its resolved faces and open areas invite different speeds of looking. Moving between them is more revealing than forcing the entire canvas into a simple label of either finished or abandoned. ^[1][3]

References

1. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Edmondo and Thérèse Morbilli, c. 1865, oil on canvas, accession 1963.10.125; owner description, details and provenance. View source
2. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Edmondo and Thérèse Morbilli, about 1865, accession 31.33; also MFA conservation programme. View source · View source
3. National Gallery of Art, David Bomford, 2017–2018 research report, online text of his Center 38 account on technical study and later reworking of the Morbilli portrait. View source
4. Splash image: Edgar Degas, Edmondo and Thérèse Morbilli, c. 1865, oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1963.10.125. Collection record. View source

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