French school of the second half of the 18th century.
"Portrait of a gentleman.
Oil on canvas. Re-coloured.
With frame of the 19th century.
Measurements: 76 x 60 cm; 91 x 73 cm (frame).
The portrait we present here, clear and immediate, can be related to the production of Joseph Duplessis, a prolific French portrait painter known as Peintre du Roi. In this canvas, the artist depicts a portrait of a gentleman with a deep gaze, in a diplomatic attitude, looking directly at the viewer, turning his head slightly towards the front. The sitter is in the foreground, with a long bust, against a neutral, dark background, which makes his presence very striking due to his brightly lit face. In fact, the carefully studied lighting is the main expressive device used by the painter; it is a focused, directed, artificial light that enters the composition from the front and falls directly on the main area of the image, the sitter's face, creating great clarity on his face and clothes and modelling his facial features and anatomical volumes with great naturalism.