Portret van Jean Duvergier de Hauranne, abt van Saint-Cyran 1825 - 1842

This is Nicolas Maurin's portrait of Jean Duvergier de Hauranne, abt van Saint-Cyran, created in the 1800s. The subdued palette centers our attention on the stark lines etched into the paper. It is a study in contrasts, as light dances across Saint-Cyran's face, highlighting his sharp gaze. Maurin’s strategic use of hatching and cross-hatching sculpts the abbot's features. The precise linework captures both the texture of his garments and the contours of his face. The formal symmetry of the composition evokes a sense of balance and order, reflective of the subject's clerical status. Notice how the linear precision defines the artwork's overall structure. The lines become a language that speaks not only to the abbot’s likeness but to the very essence of representation itself. Maurin challenges us to see the world anew through a lens of ordered, constructed meaning.