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Primary sourcePainting1790

Portrait of Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, 1790

1790

A 1790 mezzotint engraving showing Lafayette in the uniform of commander of the Paris National Guard, held by the Albertina Museum in Austria.

This portrait shows Lafayette as commander of the Paris National Guard in 1790, during his years in the French Revolution.

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Black-and-white mezzotint engraving on a book page of a standing man in a dark military uniform with light breeches and tall boots, holding a cocked hat with feathers, beside a horse with an attendant. Inscription reads M. le Marquis de la Fayette, Commandant General de la Garde Nationale Parisienne, 1790. Troops and a dome appear behind.
Portrait of Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, 1790. Albertina Museum, Vienna, Austria.

About this source

What it is

This is a black-and-white mezzotint engraving dated 1790, held by the Albertina Museum in Austria. The media description shows a standing man in a dark military uniform with light breeches and tall boots, holding a cocked hat with feathers, beside a horse with an attendant. The inscription reads that he is Commandant General of the Parisian National Guard, 1790, and troops and a dome appear behind him.

Why it matters

The print dates from the early years of the French Revolution, when Lafayette led the Paris National Guard. Images like this one spread his image across Europe and presented him as a military and civic leader of the new order. It shows how the Revolution used portraits to make its leaders known to people who could not see them in person.

Look closer

  • What details of the uniform, horse and background suggest that the man is a military commander?
  • Why would an engraver include troops and a dome behind the figure?
  • What might this image leave out about the people who were part of the Revolution?

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

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