Jacques de Bourbon, comte de La Marche

This historical portrait by Merry-Joseph Blondel depicts James of Bourbon, Count of La Marche, a Capetian prince of the fourteenth century. The work presents him in armor, in a solemn and heroic pose, in keeping with the nineteenth century’s taste for the great figures of French nobility and chivalry. It is not a contemporary portrait of the count, but a later reconstruction intended to embody visually the dignity, bravery, and dynastic prestige associated with the House of Bourbon. Through its costume, military attributes, and medievalizing setting, the painting contributes to the Romantic memorial image of the French aristocracy of the Middle Ages.