Anne-Louis Girodet, 1797 – Palace of Versailles, Versailles

Oil on canvas 159 × 113 cm (62.6 × 44.5 in)

Jean-Baptiste Belley was a former slave from the colony of Saint-Domingue who became a deputy in the French National Convention. His portrait, painted by Girodet, is deeply tied to revolutionary ideas of equality and citizenship. Belley stands confidently beside a bust of Raynal, a philosopher who opposed slavery. Girodet, trained in David’s neoclassical school, gave Belley a dignified, thoughtful pose, asserting his rightful place in the new Republic. At a time when France had just abolished slavery, this painting promoted the Revolution’s most radical promise: liberty not just for some, but for all. It is a political image as much as a personal one.

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