Suzanne Manet

Suzanne Manet (, ; ; 30 October 1829 – 8 March 1906) was a Dutch-born pianist and the wife of the painter Édouard Manet, for whom she frequently modeled. Suzanne An excellent pianist, Leenhoff was initially hired in 1851 by Manet's father, Auguste, as a piano teacher for Édouard and his brothers. Auguste was a domineering figure in Édouard's life, insisting that his son study law and avoid the arts. In their early twenties, Suzanne and Édouard developed a personal relationship and were romantically involved for some ten years. After Édouard left his parents' home, he and Suzanne lived together, although they kept their relationship discreet and secret, especially from Édouard's father. (Leenhoff may also have been Auguste's mistress.) Leenhoff gave birth out of wedlock to a son, Léon-Edouard Koëlla, on 29 January 1852. The birth certificate gave Leenhoff as the mother but "Koëlla" as the father, an individual never identified and likely invented. Léon was baptised in 1855, and became known as Suzanne's young brother. Suzanne and Édouard were finally married in October 1863, a year after the death of Édouard's father. Édouard never publicly confirmed Léon as his son. Some report that the father could have been Manet's own father, Auguste. Léon posed often for Édouard Manet. Most famously, he is the subject of the Boy Carrying a Sword of 1861 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) and Boy Blowing Bubbles (Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon). He also appears as the boy carrying a tray in the background of The Balcony.