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Secondary sourcePainting1780

Engraving of Rousseau after La Tour's Portrait

E. Ficquet, after Maurice Quentin de La Tour · 1780

A later engraving copying Maurice Quentin de La Tour's famous portrait of Rousseau, published after his death.

This posthumous engraving spread the most famous painted image of Rousseau's face after his death.

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Black and white line engraving of an oval portrait of a man with curled powdered hair, white cravat, and dark coat, seated and smiling slightly, set within an ornate framed border with laurel leaves, ribbons, a book inscribed with a title, and a lamp. Caption at bottom reads 'Publish'd 1st of April 1780 By Fielding & Walker Pater Noster Row'.
E. Ficquet after Maurice Quentin de La Tour, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, line engraving, 1780. Wellcome Collection, London.

About this source

What it is

This engraving, published in 1780, copies a well-known portrait of Jean-Jacques Rousseau painted by Maurice Quentin de La Tour. The print was made by E. Ficquet and is held by the Wellcome Collection in London.

Why it matters

La Tour's original portrait became one of the most recognised images of Rousseau, and this engraving helped spread that image to a wider public after Rousseau's death in 1778. It shows how reproductions kept a famous face in circulation long after the original painting was made.

Look closer

  • How does the decorative border with laurel leaves and a book change how we read the portrait?
  • Why might publishers continue producing portraits of a famous writer after his death?
  • What might this image leave out about who Rousseau really was?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Jean-Jacques Rousseau on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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