A boy fifer from the band of Napoleon III's Imperial Guard, in red trousers, black jacket and white gaiters, stands against a plain, pale ground with no visible floor or wall. Manet painted him after seeing Velázquez's portraits in Madrid in 1865. The Salon jury rejected it in 1866, and Émile Zola defended him in print.
Look closer
The black of the jacket and shoes is laid on thickly. Some have seen the features of Léon Leenhoff or of Victorine Meurent, Manet's favourite model, in the boy's face.
Looks like this
Compared by a vision model
