Eudore Soulié (1817-1876)
1851
Eugène Giraud, an academic painter with a sharp sense of humor, really had a field day exaggerating Eudore Soulié's features in this 1851 caricature. Notice how the subject's head is massive and topped with a wild mop of brown hair, while his body is reduced to a comically thin, stick-like figure in a formal suit. He stands in profile, casually holding a cigarette, looking every bit the intellectual dandy of mid-19th century Paris. It’s a playful snapshot of Soulié, who was actually a serious historian and curator at Versailles, showing that even formal figures weren't safe from an artist's sketchbook.