The exhibition of the Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum was the talk of London. The National Gallery featured a towering portrait of the 18th-century French nobleman, “Le Comte de Vaudreuil,” painted in 1758 by François-Hubert Drouais. Standing over seven feet tall, the portrait depicts Joseph Hyacinthe François de Paule de Rigaud, born in 1740 on the French colony of Saint-Domingue.

The count’s wealth derived from vast sugar plantations worked by enslaved laborers. The painting captures the young nobleman with teenage hauteur, wearing velvet clothes stitched with gold and red-heeled Louboutin-style slippers. He points at a map of the Caribbean, declaring ownership.

Art historians Meredith Martin and Hannah Williams note the scale of the painting is usually reserved for royalty. Drouais was the leading portraitist of Parisian high society in 1757. The setting is a grand map room with gold leaf floors.

The portrait suggests a declaration of Caribbean holdings while referencing European theater of the Seven Years' War. Lauren Greenfield has documented similar wealthy youth. The work remains a reminder of the power of art and the complex history of colonial wealth.