Portrait du docteur Auguste Tissot

This 1783 portrait of Dr. Auguste Tissot depicts the Swiss physician and medical writer whose works on nervous diseases and the health of scholars made him famous across Europe. Kauffmann's Swiss origins provided connections to the Swiss intellectual community. Kauffmann's refined oil handling favored cool, clear colors and gracefully elongated figures that drew on classical sculpture and Raphael's serene compositions, executed with a smooth, controlled touch that avoided all painterly...

The portrait captures the physician's intellectual character with Kauffmann's characteristic refinement, using warm color and dignified pose to convey professional authority.