Portret van Claude Nicolas Le Cat 1818 - 1832

Charles Aimé Forestier made this print of Claude Nicolas Le Cat sometime between 1789 and 1851. It gives us a glimpse into the visual culture of medicine in France at the time. Le Cat was a prominent surgeon, and his attire in this portrait – the powdered wig, the formal jacket – speaks to the status and authority associated with his profession. The print itself, as a relatively reproducible medium, suggests a desire to circulate and solidify Le Cat's image within a particular community, likely the medical and scientific elite of his time. This image is interesting for what it tells us about the relationship between medicine, social class, and visual representation in 18th and 19th century France. To understand it better, one might delve into the archives of medical institutions, explore the history of portraiture, and examine the social and economic conditions that shaped the production and consumption of images like this one. Art, after all, is inseparable from its social and institutional context.