Portrait Of A Young Man In Armor

18th-century French school; presumed portrait of Amand Marie Jacques de Chastenet, Marquis de Puységur, born in Paris in 1751 and died in Buzancy in 1825. Depicted in military uniform and breastplate,
the young man stands out against a background of a cloudy sky in shades of blue-gray.

Amand Marie Jacques de Chastenet, Marquis de Puységur (born in Paris in 1751 and died in Buzancy in 1825), was an artillery general and a student of Franz Anton Mesmer. He is famous in the history of psychology and magnetism for discovering artificial somnambulism in 1784.

The painting is set in a Louis XIV-style frame gilded with gold leaf, richly decorated with a band of acanthus leaves and fruit.

Dimensions:
Canvas: 61 × 49 cm
Frame: 77 × 65.5 cm

A fine piece, particularly compelling for its historical subject matter; the youthfulness of the sitter is further enhanced by a frame featuring beautiful gold-leaf gilding, with tones that have been subtly darkened by the passage of time.