Amédée-David, the Comte de Pastoret

Ingres's portrait of Amédée-David, Comte de Pastoret from 1823-26 depicts a French aristocrat and lawyer who served as Peer of France and member of the Académie française. Ingres was working primarily in Florence during this period, and the portrait reflects his mature style's combination of exact linear description with a warm, unified light that gave his sitters the quality of Renaissance marble come to life. His male portraits tend toward a greater formality and psychological reserve than his female ones, the sitter's social authority expressed through compositional clarity and the precision of his observation of dress and bearing.

Ingres's portrait technique combines hair-thin drawing with smooth, enamel-like paint surfaces. The sitter's costume is rendered with meticulous attention to fabric texture and drape, while the face is modeled with subtle, luminous flesh tones. The composition projects authority through the figure's commanding pose and the painting's large scale.