In the month of July, 1917, our daughter met an Italian painter named Amedeo Modigliani, of Leghorn [Livorno], who lived in Paris. They fell in love.听.听.听.听鈥擭otarized declaration by M and Mme H茅buterne, March 28, 1923^1(p116)

Jeanne H茅buterne (1898-1920) was 19 years old when she met Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) at the students鈥� carnival in Paris, France. She attended the Acad茅mie Colarossi, an art school established in the 19th century as an alternative to the more conservative French national school of fine arts. He was 33 years old and an aspiring artist. Their backgrounds were strikingly different. Her family was Roman Catholic, and she lived at home with her parents at 8 bis rue Amyot. Her father was an accountant and her brother a painter. She was a serious, intelligent young artist with a 鈥渟trong personality.鈥�^1(p88)Her hair was a chestnut color with reddish lights; its contrast with her pale complexion led her friends to nickname her 鈥淐oconut鈥� (Figure).