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François-Hubert Drouais, The Comte de Vaudreuil

Key facts
Full title The Comte de Vaudreuil
Artist François-Hubert Drouais
Artist dates 1727 - 1775
Date made 1758
Medium and support Oil on canvas
Dimensions 225.4 × 161.3 cm
Inscription summary Signed; Dated
Acquisition credit Presented by Barons Emile-Beaumont d'Erlanger, Frédéric d'Erlanger and Rodolphe d'Erlanger, in memory of their parents, 1927
Inventory number NG4253
Location Central Hall
Collection Main Collection
Subjects
Joseph-Hyacinthe-François de Paule de Rigaud, comte de Vaudreuil
The Comte de Vaudreuil
François-Hubert Drouais

The portrait was probably exhibited at the Salon in 1759. The sitter, the Comte de Vaudreuil, (1740 - 1817), son of the Governor of Santo Domingo, a French colony in the West Indies, is represented at the age of 18. His origins are stressed in the painting, which is unusual in showing the sitter holding out a map hanging on the wall, as he points to the place of his birth. The armour on the square of parquet at his feet, contrasting with the elegance of the chair and the costume, indicates military ambitions and the map in the background represents Germany, where Vaudreuil acted as aide-de-camp to the French commander during the Seven Years' War.

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Madame de Pompadour at her Tambour Frame
Madame de Pompadour at her Tambour Frame
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Although the grandest of the many portraits of Madame de Pompadour, this is also the most naturalistic image of her, which avoids the rigid formality or mythological trappings of much court portraiture. The former mistress of Louis XV, Madame de Pompadour had become an international celebrity by...
Room 33