Portrait de Monseigneur Dominique de La Rochefoucauld, archevêque de Rouen

Monseigneur Dominique de la Rochefoucauld, Archbishop of Rouen, appears in this 1785 portrait at the Musee des Beaux-Arts de Rouen—a later portrait than the 1749 version, showing the archbishop in his old age. Rochefoucauld served as president of the clergy in the Estates-General of 1789, placing him at the center of the revolution that would soon destroy the world Drouais"s art celebrated. Drouais was among the most successful portraitists of pre-Revolutionary France, working in the tradition of his father Hubert Drouais and studying under Carle van Loo, Natoire, and Boucher before establishing himself at court.

The elderly archbishop"s features are rendered with more naturalistic observation than the earlier portrait, the aging face showing the effects of decades of ecclesiastical service. Drouais adapts his technique to the demands of elderly portraiture, with the skin"s texture and the softening of features rendered with sensitive observation. The cardinal"s robes provide the rich color of ecclesiastical dress.