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Primary sourcePainting1788

Portrait of the Marquis de La Fayette

Louis-Léopold Boilly · 1788

A full-length 1788 portrait of Lafayette standing beside a horse, painted shortly before the French Revolution began.

A life portrait of Lafayette as a young officer, painted the year before the French Revolution began.

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Full-length painting of a man in a blue coat with red facings, white waistcoat and breeches, and black boots, standing beside a brown horse held by his left hand. He wears a sword and gazes off to the right. A stormy sky and a tree are behind him.
Louis-Léopold Boilly (formerly attributed to Henri-Pierre Danloux), Portrait of the Marquis de La Fayette, 1788.

About this source

What it is

This full-length oil painting, dated 1788, shows the Marquis de Lafayette standing beside a horse. It is attributed to Louis-Léopold Boilly, though it was formerly credited to Henri-Pierre Danloux.

Why it matters

Painted just before the outbreak of the French Revolution, the portrait shows Lafayette as a young aristocrat and military officer, in the formal style typical of pre-revolutionary portraiture. The uncertainty over its attribution also reminds students that historical artworks are sometimes reassigned to different artists as research continues.

Look closer

  • What does the formal pose and setting suggest about Lafayette's social status at this time?
  • Why might the attribution of this painting have changed over time?
  • How does this portrait compare with later images of Lafayette made after the Revolution began?

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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Painted allegory of the 1789 French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. A title plaque reads 'Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen' above two tablets of text. A seated woman with chains and a standing winged figure with a wand flank the plaque, under a radiant eye in a triangle.Document

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Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

National Constituent Assembly · 1789

Scan of a handwritten two-column manuscript on aged, browned paper. The left column is in English under the heading 'Treaty of Alliance', and the right column is in French under 'Traité d'alliance eventuelle et défensive'. The text opens by naming the Most Christian King and the United States of North America.Document

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Treaty of Alliance with France

6 February 1778

Engraving of a man's head and shoulders in a high-collared coat and cravat, above a handwritten manuscript certificate signed by Lafayette dated November 21, 1784, attesting to James's service as a spy.Document

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Certificate for James Armistead Lafayette

Marquis de Lafayette · 21 November 1784

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Lafayette's Oath of Allegiance

Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette · 9 June 1778

Handwritten manuscript page numbered 80, dated April 1788 at top, in cursive ink on ruled paper. Text discusses constitutional ratification, amendments, and a Bill of Rights and trial by jury. Bound volume edge visible on left.Letter

Primary source

Letter from George Washington to Lafayette, 28 April 1788

George Washington · 28 April 1788

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