Cyrano déclare son amour

Cyrano de Bergerac (1619-1955) was a French poet, writer and soldier. 

In the painting, Cyrano is easily recognisable by the obnoxious large nose with which the writer Edmon Rostand dresses him in his classic play 'Comedie Heroique.' IN this play from 1897, the poet and cadet Cyrano falls in love with his distant cousin, the beautiful and intellectual Roxane, but he believes that his ugliness would prevent him of ever being loved by a woman. He writes two love letters to Roxane every day, but signs them with the name of a handsome soldier who is also in love with her. 

The real Cyrano had been infected with syphilis at the age of twenty and succumbed to this disease sixteen years later without touching a woman again. 

Constant portrays Cyrano as the platonic lover who allows his Roxane to be loved by someone else. The large red flower, in the foreground on the right underlines the passionate drama in the scene.