French school of the second half of the 18th century. "Portrait of a gentleman. Oil on canvas. Re-coloured. With frame of the 19th century. Measurements: 76 x 60 cm; 91 x 73 cm (frame). The portrait we present here, clear and immediate, can be related to the production of Joseph Duplessis, a prolific French portrait painter known as Peintre du Roi. In this canvas, the artist depicts a portrait of a gentleman with a deep gaze, in a diplomatic attitude, looking directly at the viewer, turning his head slightly towards the front. The sitter is in the foreground, with a long bust, against a neutral, dark background, which makes his presence very striking due to his brightly lit face. In fact, the carefully studied lighting is the main expressive device used by the painter; it is a focused, directed, artificial light that enters the composition from the front and falls directly on the main area of the image, the sitter`s face, creating great clarity on his face and clothes and modelling his facial features and anatomical volumes with great naturalism.