ORThe Open Room
Digital gallery
Back to the NGA collection
The image displays a detailed portrait of a man depicting only his head and shoulders. The man faces left in profile, with notable facial features including a distinct nose and high forehead. He has curly hair styled away from his face, likely a wig. The man wears formal attire, including a high-collared coat with fringe epaulets, suggesting a military or formal rank, and a cravat tied around his neck. The background is a simple dark oval, emphasizing the man's profile. The surrounding area is light with inscriptions detailing the name "General Giles Aquilla" and the artist's signature "C. F. Memin N. 27 Pine St. N. York."
Read the visual description

The image displays a detailed portrait of a man depicting only his head and shoulders. The man faces left in profile, with notable facial features including a distinct nose and high forehead. He has curly hair styled away from his face, likely a wig. The man wears formal attire, including a high-collared coat with fringe epaulets, suggesting a military or formal rank, and a cravat tied around his neck. The background is a simple dark oval, emphasizing the man's profile. The surrounding area is light with inscriptions detailing the name "General Giles Aquilla" and the artist's signature "C. F. Memin N. 27 Pine St. N. York."

National Gallery of Art · Print

Aquila Giles

Charles B. J. Févret de Saint-Mémin

Date
1797
Medium
mezzotint and engraving in black on wove paper mounted to brown wove paper
Dimensions
image (irregular): 5.56 × 5.56 cm (2 3/16 × 2 3/16 in.) sheet (trimmed to plate): 6.67 × 6.19 cm (2 5/8 × 2 7/16 in.)
Classification
Print
Accession number
2015.19.1584.6.15
Credit line
Corcoran Collection (Gift of William Wilson Corcoran)
Time span
1776 to 1800
Department
CG-W
Original NGA record Wikidata

Portfolio and series

Series
Saint-Mémin Collection of Portraits

Subjects and terms

  • portrait
  • American
  • engraving
  • mezzotint
  • Man
  • Profile
Provenance

the artist, Dijon, France; Léon Victor Raoul Leclerc, Vicomte de Juigné (the artist's nephew), Dijon, France, 1852; (Henry Stevens, London, England, c. 1859); William W. Corcoran, Washington, DC, c. 1874; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1875; acquired 2015 by the National Gallery of Art

Inscription

lower center in plate: St. Memin No. 27 Pine St. N. York; lower center mount in black ink by unknown hand: General Giles. / Aquilla.

NGA object ID 214406. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.