Medium
Classification
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Accession Number
S/NPG.74.39.1.18
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Jacint Laval (1809)** Charles Balthazar Julien Féret de Saint-Mé, a French émigré artist who settled in America, crafted this striking profile print of Jacint Laval, a multifaceted figure known as a merchant, sheriff, army captain, and colonel. 1809, the portrait captures Laval in military attire, complete with epaulets, a feathered hat, and commanding posture—hallmarks of early 19th-century American amid the young nation's expansion and tensions like the lead-up to the War of1812. Saint-Mémin pioneered a distinctive physionotrace technique, using a mechanical outlining device to create p...