Since the end of November, the Institut Pasteur has been pleased to present the famous portrait of Louis Pasteur by Léon Bonnat at the museum in Bayonne, which has reopened after a 14-year revamp.

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In this painting dated 1886, Louis Pasteur, aged 64, is seen wearing a frock coat with the rosette of the Legion of Honor pinned to the lapel and a pince-nez tucked in one pocket. He has the stature of a distinguished public figure of his time. Next to Pasteur, his granddaughter Camille, wearing a blue smock and lace skirt, is leaning against him. Their hands are clasped together in a sign of affection. The dark background and minute attention to detail point to both the formal nature of the portrait and the intimate family relationship.

The painting will be returned to the Grand Salon of Louis and Marie Pasteur's apartment in autumn 2028 for the reopening of the museum.
 

A painting to thank Pasteur for his discoveries
When Louis Pasteur filed his patent for pasteurization in 1871, the Carlsberg brewery, founded by Jacob Christian Jacobsen (1811-1887) in 1847, was the first in Denmark to adopt the method. The process, which involved heating beer to 55°C to eliminate all the microorganisms that might adversely affect it, revolutionized the brewing industry. Jacobsen, a visionary with a passion for science, had the utmost respect for Pasteur, seeing him as a much more influential figure than his own colleague, Professor Emil Christian Hansen (1842-1909), known as the "Nordic Pasteur." The ultimate expression of this mutual admiration came in 1885 when Jacobsen commissioned a portrait of Louis Pasteur from artist Léon Bonnat, intended to be given to his wife, Marie Pasteur (1826-1910), as a thank you for his work. It was ultimately Jacobsen's son, Carl Jacobsen (1842-1914), who presented the painting to Pasteur in 1888 at an exhibition in Copenhagen.

The gift symbolized the deep friendship between the two men and Carlsberg's commitment to science, as seen with the creation of the Carlsberg research laboratory in 1875, inspired directly by Pasteur's discoveries.

Pasteur's sittings for Bonnat gave rise to friendly conversations, as recorded in a number of letters and telegrams. The subsequent decision to insert Camille into the portrait was a challenge for the artist, who asked the family to come back and pose again. The portrait was presented at the Paris Salon in 1886 and was well received by critics, although some felt it had a certain rigidity. But it is precisely this formal aspect that makes it a major work, both an official portrait and a touching demonstration of affection. The painting was also presented at the 1889 Paris Exposition. 

A letter from Louis Pasteur to Léon Bonnat, who had just finished the portrait of Pasteur with Camille, attests to the quality of the painting, as emphasized by the artist Jean-Jacques Henner (1829-1905):
 

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