35 
N°I 2025   MuseoMag 
NEW ACQUISITION 
specific significance to the sitter, as must the instru- 
ment. They both may refer to Pantaleon Hebenstreit 
(1668-1750), a famous German dance teacher, ins- 
trument maker, musician and composer. Pantaleon 
Hebenstreit invented a large instrument with strings, 
named after him, that was used all over Europe 
around 1700 for dance music, and can be compared 
to a dulcimer (a pre-form of the fortepiano). It is 
not yet clear if and how he is related to Thérèse 
Hebenstreit, but the fact that they share the same 
relatively uncommon family name suggests a 
connection. Since Jean Tinchant is portrayed in the 
military uniform of a non-combatant superior officer 
in the French army and was appointed physician in the 
Armée du Rhin on 15 April 1792, his portrait must have 
been completed after that date. Both he and Thérèse 
Hebenstreit came from a distinguished background: 
his wife’s father was a lawyer at the Alsace Supreme 
Court, and his own father was a surgeon and profes- 
sor at the medical faculty of Strasbourg. 
The occasion for being painted by one of the 
leading portraitists of the 18th century Strasbourg 
elite may very well have been the couple’s marriage 
on 11 February 1793 – a date that fits well with their 
attire and Daniche’s painting style, when compared 
to other works by her from that period. Another 
undated portrait attributed to Monique Daniche 
showing a young mother with a newborn baby bears 
a striking resemblance to Thérèse Hebenstreit and 
likely depicts her with Louis Auguste (1794-1871), 
the first son of the newly married couple and 
descendant of the Tinchant lineage. While this would, 
indeed, narrow the probable date of our companion 
portraits down to c.1793, we cannot rule out the 
possibility entirely that the portraits were painted 
after March 1809, when Tinchant was promoted to 
“Médecin principal” in Napoleon’s Grande Armée. 
Further research will surely reveal new findings. 
Monique Daniche, like her contemporary Elizabeth 
Vigée Le Brun, is an influential figure in the history 
of French female painters, but her works are rare and 
still largely unstudied. The fact that we can now show 
a representative part of this fascinating Strasbourg 
painter’s small oeuvre on our walls in Luxembourg is 
something we look forward to very much and hope 
to share with many visitors throughout 2025. 
Michelle Kleyr and Ruud Priem 
Monique Daniche (1737-1824), Portrait of Jeanne Louise 
Thérèse Hebenstreit (1770-1849) and Portrait of Jean Nico- 
las Michel Tinchant (1770-1835), c.1793. Oil on canvas, 76 x 
62 cm (each). MNAHA collection. 
© 
Gros 
& Delettrez