In 2004, thanks to the wonders of Google, a portrait of Jean Baptiste Breschard by Gilbert Stuart became known to me. Having only discovered the existence of this historical Breschard a few years previous, I was intrigued. Unfortunately, the name of this particular painting was no longer “Breschard, the Circus Rider,” the sitter was now designated as “John Bill Ricketts,” the portrait's identification being changed by the National Gallery of Art sometime in the 1970s.
After having completed a great deal of research and having read pertinent parts of the NGA archive, I became convinced by the existing evidence that in all probability the portrait by Gilbert Stuart was indeed that of Jean Baptiste Casmiere Breschard.
So I wrote a book about the man, the circus, the artist, the painting, the NGA, etc.. I’m presently in the process of having it published.
The main reason I’m writing this is due to the fact that another student of Stuart has come across the controversy and is using some of the entries I’ve helped edit in Wikipedia as sources for posts to her blog. All I can say is that like all encyclopedias, Wikipedia doesn’t contain all the facts, and if I can be of any help, let me know.
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