It was in 1868 in the galleries of the Louvre that Henri Fantin-Latour introduced Édouard Manet to Berthe Morisot. The painter of Olympia was charmed by the beauty of this young artist who had been regularly invited to show in the Salon since 1864. While continuing to paint, Morisot would also pose regularly for the older artist. Indeed, for six years she was one of his favorite models and the subject of a dozen of his portraits. The panel in the Musée Marmottan Monet is a fragment of a full portrait showing Morisot lying on a sofa. Manet trimmed the canvas, leaving only the part that depicts the head and shoulders. The tighter framing results in a portrait that has surprising presence, an ode to Morisot’s dark and mysterious beauty. Manet gifted the painting to his model, and it remained in the family for two generations before entering the collection of the Musée Marmottan Monet.