Anne louis girodet portrait of jean-baptiste belley

Abstract

Anne-Louis Girodet Trioson's Portrait of C.[itizen] Jean-Baptiste Belley, ex-representative of the Colonies, is evidence of the changing ideological situation during the French Revolution.

Girodet was one of the most learned and accomplished students of Jacques-Louis David who strove to surpass his teacher in two ways: 1) by painting David's Neoclassical style so well that his handling surpasses that of his master, and 2) by choosing subject matter never before explored by David.

Jean-Baptiste Belley (–) bought his freedom in Belley fought in the American War of Independence and served as a captain in the French army.

Jean-Baptiste Belley was the first Black man made a French deputy.

This important painting of a Black Haitian deputy, once enslaved, commemorates his participation in the assembly that abolished slavery in.

This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art.

The painting portrays two subjects: Jean-Baptiste Belley () and Guillaume-Thomas Raynal () in a moment that never existed in history.

Girodet accomplishes both within this work. The Neoclassical handling of the image has been achieved with amazing clarity, and the central figure of an identified black man had never been displayed in the Salon previously. The work was without precedent and without progeny.

It successfully transcends the boundaries of portraiture into