Portret van Antoine Gouan

This print, made by Ambroise Tardieu, presents a portrait of Antoine Gouan. Gouan was a botanist and professor at the Faculty of Medicine in Montpellier, France. The print itself offers us a glimpse into the world of scientific and academic portraiture of the period. Notice how the artist has chosen to depict Gouan in profile. This visual language lends him an air of classical dignity. The oval frame further alludes to antique portraiture. In France at this time, intellectual life was flourishing, but access to it was still largely determined by social class. Prints such as this one were instrumental in creating a visual culture around science. The choice of a print – rather than painting – suggests a desire to disseminate Gouan’s image more widely, acknowledging the growing importance of scientific knowledge in the public sphere. By looking into the archives of the University of Montpellier we might further understand the institutional networks that helped Gouan’s work to circulate. We can understand more clearly how images like this one participated in shaping the intellectual landscape of 18th-century France.