Cristoph Wilibald von Gluck at the Spinet

Duplessis painted the composer Christoph Willibald Gluck at the keyboard around 1775, during Gluck's period of triumph in Paris where his operatic reforms were revolutionizing French musical theater. The battle between Gluckists and Piccinnists divided Parisian cultural life. Duplessis, the leading portrait painter at the French court after his acclaimed portrait of Louis XVI, captured Gluck's intense creative energy.

Duplessis renders Gluck in the act of composing, his face animated with creative intensity and his hands poised over the keyboard. The dramatic lighting and psychological penetration create one of the most vivid composer portraits of the 18th century.