Portrait of a Man 1793

Louis Lafitte created this delicate portrait using stipple engraving in 1793. The oval composition immediately focuses our attention on the sitter, his gaze directed off to the side, lost in thought, perhaps. Lafitte’s choice of stipple engraving, a technique that relies on tiny dots to create tone and form, lends the portrait a soft, almost ethereal quality. The texture is smooth and creates subtle gradations of light and shadow across the face and costume. The formal hat creates a strong, vertical element, contrasting with the flowing clouds in the background and the soft, flowing tie at the subject's neck. Here we see a play between structure and fluidity, a visual dance between the concrete and the transient. Notice how the circular frame subtly destabilizes the traditional portrait format by not squaring it off. These formal elements, combined with the sitter's contemplative expression, invite us to ponder the transient nature of identity.