71 HYACINTHE RIGAUD French, 1659­1743 Portrait of a Man Brush drawing in gray wash over black chalk, heightened with white bodycolor, on light­blue paper 35.4 x 28 cm (14 x 11 in.) Cat. II, no. 74; 86.GB.612 The identity of the sitter remains unknown. He was at one time believed to be Francois­Michel Le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois (1641­1691), Secretary of War to Louis XIV, a man notorious for his persecution of Protestants as well as for the despotic power he wielded over the army and the king. In the disagreeable demeanor; the penetrating look to the eye; the long, rather broad nose; even the set to the chin, there is some resemblance to Louvois. The principal difference is that Louvois, from his early twenties onward, wore a distinctive pencil mustache, clearly absent from the lip of the present sitter, and was generally plumper in the face. Moreover, the drawing seems to be later, about 1710. Whoever he is, the opulent surroundings—a classical column draped with damask, a velvet­covered chair on the back of which he rests his left hand, and the cloak about his waist—serve to emphasize his power and wealth. The artist has lavished particular care on the description of the texture of the clothes: the silk jacket and linen shirt with lace­trimmed sleeves and collar are beautifully rendered with white highlights. FRENCH SCHOOL 87