The work 's realism attracted a large amount of commentary when it was first exhibited . Some saw it as an affront to Romanticism , others said that its small details not only showed an acute likeness , but built a psychological profile of the sitter . Art historian Geraldine Pelles see Bertin as " at once intense , suspicious , and aggressive " . She note that there is a certain amount of projection of the artist 's personality and recall Théophile Silvestre 's description of Ingres ; " There he was squarely seated in an armchair , motionless as an Egyptian god carved of granite , his hands stretched wide over parallel knees , his torso stiff , his head haughty " . Some compared it to Balthasar Denner , a German realist painter influenced by Jan van Eyck . Denner , in the words of Ingres scholar Robert Rosenblum , " specialised in recording every last line on the faces of aged men and women , and even reflections of windows in their eyes . " The comparison was made by Ingres ' admirers and detractors alike . In 1833 , Louis de Maynard of the Collège @-@ lycée Ampère , writing in the influential L 'Europe littéraire , dismissed Denner as a weak painter concerned with hyperrealistic " curiosities " , and said that both he and Ingres fell short of the " sublime productions of Ingres ' self @-@ proclaimed hero , Raphael . "