Portrait of Victor Cousin

Looking out from Le Gray's photograph, Victor Cousin appears intent on being seen as serious, though perhaps he was simply suspicious of the process that fixed his image for posterity. A popular, influential professor and lecturer and later a reforming government minister, the distinguished philosopher must be considered one of Le Gray's most eminent sitters.

Cousin was well into his sixties when this photograph was made, and his somewhat disheveled appearance advertises his status as an elderly bachelor. His clothing is wrinkled, and patterned fabric untidily extrudes between his vest and trousers. The hand tucked dramatically into his vest hides the lens of his monocle, with the cord barely visible underneath. Through retouching the negative, Le Gray tried to simplify Cousin's silhouette by eliminating the back of the chair on which he sat; its traces remain, however, interrupting the otherwise smooth line of the right shoulder.