Gabriel Bernard de Rieux, the youngest son of an immensely
successful financier, wears the robes of his office as president
of the second Court of Inquiry in the Parliament of Paris. From
a large tome held on his lap, he lifts a sheet of paper.
Intending to declare the sitter's erudition, wealth, and status,
Maurice-Quentin de La Tour placed de Rieux in his study,
surrounded by fashionable and expensive objects. Behind him is a
richly ornamental screen; on a table covered with blue velvet
cloth are books, papers, and an inkstand with a quill pen. A
globe stands next to the table and a Turkish carpet covers the
floor. These objects identify the sitter as a connoisseur of
fine and precious thing--like his father, whose considerable
fortune de Rieux inherited the year this portrait was painted.
This large, full-length portrait, still in its original, massive
gilt frame, was assembled from separate sheets of paper laid on
canvas and drawn entirely in pastel. The most sought-after
portraitist of his day, La Tour w