This portrait by Maurice-Quentin de La Tour, the finest pastel artist from the period, depicts Louis Duval de l’Épinoy, Marquis of Saint-Vrain, adviser and secretary to King Louis XV. The model’s vivacious expression hints at a sagacious spirit. The rigorous observation, the spatial construction, the precision of the volumetry in the objects and the skilful modulation of the light all contribute to the quality of the portrait, whose dimensions, unusual for a pastel, make it a bold work.

The composition also illustrates the artist’s enthusiasm for the rationalism of the time, since the ‘Age of Enlightenment’ is fully expressed in the elements that symbolically surround the figure. Filled with allusions to geography and literature, the portrait offers a delightful testimony to its time, while the snuffbox also illustrates refined customs. The work was presented at the Paris Salon in 1745, where it was received in triumph.