Artwork
Peter Stephen DuPonceau
Peter Stephen DuPonceau is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin. It dates from 1800 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art. The print is a black‑ink engraving on wove paper that presents a solitary male figure in profile, turned toward the left.
About this work
Overview
The print is a black‑ink engraving on wove paper that presents a solitary male figure in profile, turned toward the left. The composition isolates the sitter’s head and shoulders against a pale background, allowing the crisp lines of the engraving to define his features and attire with clarity.
Subject & Meaning
The figure is rendered in a dignified pose, wearing a high‑collared coat and a neatly tied cravat, garments that signal a respectable social standing. The precise, restrained rendering of his facial features conveys a sense of calm authority, reflecting the neoclassical ideal of rational composure.
Technique & Style
Executed through fine incised lines, the engraving employs the neoclassical portrait aesthetic that favored simplicity, balance, and clear delineation of form. The artist’s control of line weight creates subtle shading, while the uniform background reinforces the orderly, measured quality characteristic of the period’s printmaking.
Context
Produced during the height of neoclassicism, the work aligns with contemporary preferences for portraits that emphasized classical restraint over ornate decoration. Such prints were often circulated to convey the virtues of the Enlightenment, presenting subjects as embodiments of reason and decorum.
Artist & collection
Artist
Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin
Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin (French pronunciation: ; 1770–1852) was a French portrait painter and museum director.
