Portrait of Duval de l'Epinoy

Maurice Quentin de La Tour produced this pastel portrait in 1745, showing Monsieur Duval de l'Epinoy, a French nobleman prominent at the court of Louis XV. The subject wears an elegant blue velvet jacket and wide-brimmed hat, seated with one hand resting on a nearby table.

De La Tour was the most celebrated portrait painter at the French court, known for capturing the personalities of high society with notable psychological insight. He used a technique called "clair-obscur" to create the illusion of soft light illuminating the subject's face. The composition places the subject slightly off-center, creating a sense of movement and dynamism.

The portrait now hangs at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon, Portugal. De La Tour's pastel technique achieved notable subtlety, making him one of the finest portraitists of the Rococo period.