Hugues Merle painted faces you keep looking at, and that is exactly the sort of work I want on my chart table. He gets compared to Bouguereau often enough that the comparison has stuck, which tells you something about the level of finish you are stitching toward.
He was French, born in 1822 and died in 1881, and he built his reputation on sentimental and moral subjects. Portraits are where he lived. That is the short version, and honestly it is the version that matters for a stitcher, because what you are charting is a human face rendered with real care.
Of the five designs I have charted from him, four sit at Level 5. That is not a warning so much as a heads up. Young Girl in a Veil is the one I point people toward first when they ask which to start with, because the veil forces you to trust the color changes even when they look almost identical on the chart. Romeo and Juliet is the biggest commitment in the group, two figures and a lot of fabric. Falling Leaves, Allegory of Autumn and The Butterfly ask the same of you. If you want a slightly gentler way in, The Bather is Level 4 and still gives you all the skin tone work that makes these portrait cross stitch patterns worth doing. All five are charted for 18-count Aida and meant to be framed.
When you finish one of these, look at Elizabeth Gardner next. She studied under Merle, worked in the same era and the same genre, and I have one counted cross stitch pattern from her in the shop. Stitching teacher and student back to back is one of the small pleasures of this hobby.
And if the painting itself is what pulled you in rather than the needle, there are Hugues Merle art prints out there too. No hard feelings from me either way.
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