Portrait of René Duguay-Trouin, Lieutenant-General of the Naval Armies of the King 1765 - 1807

François Nicolas Barthélemy Dequevauviller produced this print of René Duguay-Trouin, Lieutenant-General of the Naval Armies of the King, using engraving. This image tells us a lot about the structures of power in eighteenth-century France. Duguay-Trouin is shown in an oval portrait, framed by symbols of military might and aristocratic status. France at this time was a highly stratified society, with the monarchy and nobility at the top, and the military was a key institution through which men from privileged backgrounds could advance. Engraving was an important medium for disseminating images of powerful figures and reinforcing social hierarchies. The visual codes here – the elaborate wig, the naval imagery – all speak to Duguay-Trouin’s elevated position in French society. To understand this print more fully, we might research the history of the French Navy, the role of the aristocracy in the military, and the artistic conventions of portraiture in eighteenth-century France. Art history is always contingent on social and institutional context.