Charles Auguste Émile Durand, known as Carolus-Duran, was a French painter and art instructor. He is noted for his stylish depictions of members of high society in Third Republic France.

The Académie Suisse was a very popular, informal art school founded by Martin François Suisse (1781–1859) in 1815, and was located at the corner of the Quai des Orfévres and the Boulevard du Palais, in Paris, France. From Delacroix to Cézanne, most major French artists frequented this venue to meet colleagues and to study after male and female models.