Portrait of Colette Versavel, Wife of the Physician Isaac Joseph De Meyer, 1822

Joseph François Ducq was a member of the Bruges neo-Classicist school. After stays in Paris and Rome he returned to Bruges in 1815 where he was appointed director of the Academy and court painter of King William I. Ducq painted Isaac Jozef de Meyer in state as an officer and principal physician of the Dutch army. In the foreground he has placed splints, bandages and an instrument case with an amputation saw. The uniform, the accessories and the soldiers in the background refer to the high social status of the army physician and his important public function. The portrait of his wife, Colette Versavel, is more poetic and intimate. The woman is placed in the privacy of an inner courtyard with a water jug in her hand. She is the caring wife, the preserver of domestic harmony. These portraits were probably commissioned on the occasion of their marriage.