Marcellin Desboutin was an emblematic figure of Fin-de-Siècle Paris. From a wealthy and affluent family, he devoted the early part of his life to travel and stays in the most beautiful cities of the time. He lived for about 14 years in the hills of Florence, in a famous villa called the Villa dell'Ombrellino, which still exists today. Great figures have stayed at this villa, including Galileo Galilei, who lived there for more than ten years. Thanks to his affluence, Desboutin loved to host the most distinguished personalities of the time in his sumptuous mansion. Among others, he hosted Degas for a long time, his great friend and an admirer of his skills as an engraver. A sudden economic collapse took him to the brink of bankruptcy in a very short time, forcing him to sell the Villa dell'Ombrellino and return to Paris. Here he could count on the help of Degas and Manet, and thanks to his skill as an engraver, with important commissions from a number of publishers, he managed to pull through. Both Degas and Manet painted portraits of him, and in fact his face can be seen in Degas' famous painting Les Buveurs d'absinthe, for which he posed as a model. Of particular importance, in addition to the portraits he made of the great figures of the time, are the self-portraits in which he tells his story with no shame, through the metamorphoses and changes that time and the events of his life imposed on him. Like Rembrandt, who in his portraits tells us about personal dramas and vicissitudes, Desboutin also creates a kind of dialogue with the viewer, laying himself bare and revealing his anguish and afflictions. Desboutin was also a prolific writer and playwright, and the French government would later award him the légion d'honneur, the highest honor for his talent as an artist.