Portrait of Georges Danton

What it is

This half-length oil portrait shows a man with powdered gray hair in a dark coat and white cravat. It is attributed as a lifetime portrait of Georges Danton and is held at the Musée Carnavalet in Paris, though the painter is not known.

Why it matters

This image is considered the standard likeness of Danton, matching descriptions contemporaries gave of his heavy, marked face. Portraits like this shaped how later generations pictured revolutionary leaders, even when the artist's identity and exact circumstances of painting are lost to history.

Look closer

• What choices did the painter make about pose, clothing, and background, and what might these suggest about how Danton wanted to be seen?
• Why does it matter that we don't know who painted this portrait?
• What can a painted portrait tell us about a person, and what can it not tell us?