Sophie Liénard

Her maiden’s name was Sophie Girard, which she changed to Liénard after her marriage. She lived in Paris at 43 rue Meslay. She began working at the Rihouet porcelain painting workshop on Rue de la Paix, and later moved to the Sèvres factory. She exhibited at the Salon in 1842 with a copy of Pierre Mignard's "Virgin of the Grapes," and at the 1845 Salon with two male portraits.

Sophie Liénard died in 1875 at the age of 74, as indicated by her death certificate found in the Paris Archives (décès 3e arrondissement, V4E 2734, f. 19). This document provides significant information about her family background, which was previously unknown or inaccurately cited: "Sophie Louise Girard, painter, who passed away last night at three o'clock in the afternoon, at the conjugal home, rue Meslay 43, seventy-four and a half years old, born in Versailles, Seine and Oise, wife of Justin Louis Liénard, painter, sixty-six years old; daughter of Alexis Girard and Rose Saladin, deceased [...]".

Throughout her career, Sophie made a point of distinguishing her portrait work from that of her husband by signing with her first name "Sophie," either in full or abbreviated as "Sie".

(References: Espinosa, Carmen, *Las miniaturas en el Museo Nacional del Prado. Catálogo razonado*, Madrid, Museo del Prado, 2011 and Lemoine-Bouchard, Nathalie, "Peintres en miniature et peintres sur porcelaine: Le point sur différents artistes du nom de Liénard: Edouard Liénard; Jean-Baptiste Liénard; Sophie Liénard et Justin Liénard", *La Lettre de la Miniature*, 34-35 (2), March-June 2016, pp. 3-15, especially p. 11).