 The work 's realism attracted a large amount of commentary when it was first exhibited . Some saw it as an <unk> to Romanticism , others said that its small details not only showed an acute likeness , but built a psychological profile of the sitter . Art historian <unk> <unk> sees Bertin as " at once intense , suspicious , and aggressive " . She notes that there is a certain amount of projection of the artist 's personality and recalls <unk> <unk> '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 <unk> " . Some compared it to <unk> 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 <unk> of windows in their eyes . " The comparison was made by Ingres ' admirers and detractors alike . In 1833 , Louis de Maynard of the <unk> @-@ <unk> <unk> , writing in the influential L <unk> <unk> , dismissed Denner as a weak painter concerned with <unk> " <unk> " , and said that both he and Ingres fell short of the " sublime productions of Ingres ' self @-@ proclaimed hero , Raphael . " 
