Madame Hamelin by Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825) - painting on canvas. The subject, Madame Hamelin, a Creole born in Santo Domingo. She became the wife of a Parisian banker, and played a brilliant role in Parisian society of the Directoire period. She was nicknamed "La Jolie Laide". Chateaubriand, whom she captivated, said of her that she possessed the two qualities that also characterized France, nobility and frivolity.