Toussaint Louverture on Horseback

This detailed ink and wash drawing has recently come to light and been attributed to Claude Louis Desrais based on an inscription on the verso. The identity of the subject as Toussaint Louverture (ca.1743-1803) is known from the inscription on the drawing as well as one on the related print published by Pierre Jean, a work until now considered to be after an anonymous drawing.


Toussaint-Louverture emerged as a leader during the widespread uprisings of enslaved people in Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) in 1791 that led eventually to the abolition of slavery there in 1793. He became the first Black general of the French Republic in 1795 and ascended to commander in chief of Saint-Domingue in 1797. This drawing was the model for print published by Pierre Jean in 1802. It portrays him as an imposing force, although its status as a likeness is doubtful given that the artist probably never saw the subject. By this date, Napoléon Bonaparte had grown concerned over Toussaint’s increasing power and sent troops to capture him. He died imprisoned in France in 1803. One of his lieutenants, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, declared Haiti independent in 1804.


As with other European depictions of Toussaint Louverture, one presumes that Desrais based his image on European conventions, in this case, the well-established format of portraying military leaders on rearing horses.