Ami-Jean de la Rive

Ami-Jean de la Rive was a member of another prominent Genevan family, and Liotard's pastel of 1758 belongs to the same group of civic portraits the artist made for his home city's elite in the mid-century years. The de la Rive family produced several notable figures in Genevan art and culture, and this portrait documents the continuity of Liotard's relationship with the Genevan patriciate across his long career. The Museum of Art and History Geneva holds the work alongside several other Liotard pastels of Genevan sitters, making it part of the most important concentration of his work outside private collections. Pastel at this date was Liotard's preferred medium for intimate private commissions, and the format is appropriately personal — a record of identity for family use rather than a public statement of authority.

Pastel on paper, consistent in technique with Liotard's other 1758 Genevan portraits. The medium's soft grain suits the intimate scale of a private family commission, and the handling balances precise facial observation with a looser treatment of clothing and background.