Joseph Siffred Duplessis – Master of 18thC French Portraiture, Faméd for Realistic Depictions of Aristocracy & Iconic Portraits Like Benjamin Franklin Joseph-Siffred Duplessis (1725–1802) stands as a singular figure in the annals of 18th-century French art – not merely a painter, but a conduit of an era’s intellectual and aesthetic sensibilities. Born in Carpentras, Provence, he emerged from humble beginnings, inheriting artistic inclination from his father, Germain Duplessis, a surgeon who possessed a profound appreciation for visual arts. This early exposure to observation—the meticulous r…