Father Charles Chiniquy

The Catholic priest Charles Chiniquy was among the most flamboyant figures of his time. He was known as "the apostle of temperance" for his sermons deploring the perils of alcohol, which drew huge crowds. This portrait was executed when Plamondon was at the height of his career, and Chiniquy would remain his most illustrious model. It is the dynamism of the forms – the perfect arc of the arms surmounted by the regular oval of the face – that captures the churchman’s essential nature and unique personality.