The Unknown Masterpiece by Honoré de Balzac

"The Unknown Masterpiece" by Honoré de Balzac is a short story first published in 1831. Set in seventeenth-century Paris, it follows three painters: the young unknown Nicolas Poussin, the established Porbus, and the enigmatic master Frenhofer. For ten years, Frenhofer has labored obsessively on a secret painting he believes will be his greatest triumph. When Poussin offers his beautiful lover as a model, the completion draws near—but what will the finished work reveal? A profound meditation on artistic perfection and obsession. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

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Author Balzac, Honoré de, 1799-1850
Uniform Title Chef d'oeuvre inconnu. English
Title The Unknown Masterpiece
1845
Note Wikipedia page about this book: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Chef-d%27%C5%93uvre_inconnu
Credits Produced by David Widger
Reading Level Reading ease score: 77.2 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read.
Language English
LoC Class PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Subject Biographical fiction
Subject France -- Fiction
Subject French fiction -- Translations into English
Subject Painters -- Fiction
Subject Poussin, Nicolas, 1594?-1665 -- Fiction
Category Text
EBook-No. 23060
Release Date
Most Recently Updated Feb 19, 2025
Copyright Status Public domain in the USA.
Downloads 953 downloads in the last 30 days.
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