Jacques Luc Barbier-Valbonne
Medium
Black chalk with stumping, heightened with white gouache on beige wove paper
Dimensions
{"sheet":{"height":0.262,"width":0.207}}
Classification
Drawing
Department
Drawings
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Harry D. Kendrick
Accession Number
1950.496
Tags
About this artwork
The French Revolution (1789–99) disrupted all traditional hierarchies, including that of art, which habitually placed history painting in the highest regard. When Isabey exhibited this portrait of his friend and fellow artist in the 1796 salon, drawings had taken on significance as a more personal and egalitarian form of art. Isabey depicts Barbier as a solid citizen of the new Republic. The tasseled cap and embroidered jacket recall Barbier’s service as a hussar, a type of soldier; the vest, cr...