Portrait of G. F. Reverdin 1796

François Gérard painted this portrait of G. F. Reverdin, capturing the sitter’s likeness in oil on canvas. It was painted some time around the turn of the nineteenth century in France. Gérard was a student of Jacques-Louis David, a prominent painter associated with the French Revolution. This portrait reflects the shifting social structures of post-revolutionary France. The subject’s dark coat and simple neckwear eschew the aristocratic fashions of the Ancien Régime. Instead, Reverdin’s style signals a connection to the bourgeoisie, the emerging class who sought to present themselves as serious and civic-minded. Art historians look at portraits like these for insight into the sartorial, cultural, and political norms of the time. We might ask, how does this image challenge the art institutions that came before? How does it signal a break with the past?