Portrait of Prosper de Barante

Prosper de Barante, the historian and politician who served under both Napoleon and the Restoration monarchy, appears in this 1814 portrait at the Musée d'Art Roger-Quilliot in Clermont-Ferrand. Barante's literary works on the Dukes of Burgundy would establish his reputation as a historian, but this portrait captures him in his earlier political career. The 1814 date places the portrait at the moment of Napoleon's first abdication and the Bourbon restoration.

Girodet presents the sitter with the intellectual dignity appropriate to a man of letters and politics. The handling is precise and controlled, with careful attention to the features that convey character and intelligence. The palette is restrained and serious, appropriate to a portrait of a public intellectual.