The identification of the sitter is based on an unsigned replica of this miniature inscribed on the reverse and dated 1797, sold Christie’s, London, 17 October 1995, lot 81. Herculais spent most of his military career in North Africa, travelling to Algiers in 1784 and to Tunis in 1797. He returned to France the same year corresponding to the time when he has probably painted by Guérin. He retired in 1808 and became a honorary Field Marshal in 1816.