Portrait of a Man 1770 - 1812

Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Le Tellier painted this tiny portrait on ivory, most likely in France around the turn of the 19th century. Its scale suggests it was made to be worn as a piece of jewelry. Looking at the image, we see the man’s striped jacket, powdered hair, and lacy jabot place him squarely in the upper echelons of French society. But this was a society undergoing massive upheaval. Le Tellier began his artistic career around the time of the French Revolution. The revolution sought to undo the entrenched class system that this man’s image so clearly represents. While portraiture had long been used to signal social status, after the revolution, artists and institutions questioned the very function of art. Ultimately, art history is about understanding the shifting social roles that images can play. To understand this piece, we might research the fashion and portraiture trends of the period, and consider the political implications of representing the wealthy during a time of revolution.