Portret van Henri-Oswald de la Tour d'Auvergne 1699

Jean François Cars made this print of Henri-Oswald de la Tour d'Auvergne. Its creation and reception were shaped by very particular social conditions. In seventeenth-century France, the Catholic Church wielded immense power. Birth into the aristocracy often determined one’s path, with high-ranking church positions reserved for the nobility. This portrait showcases the visual codes of power. Henri-Oswald, framed within an oval, is surrounded by text proclaiming his titles and status. Below, a crest signifies his lineage. The composition itself reinforces a rigid hierarchy. To understand this work fully, we need to consult historical records: family genealogies, church documents, and accounts of the French aristocracy. It is these kinds of resources that reveal how the image reinforces the social structures of its time.