Head of a bearded man in a white cloak holding a dagger

In his art, Fragonard was a forerunner of the popular French eighteenth-century genre of the tête d'expression, as exemplified by this accomplished painting, which is itself perhaps inspired by a sketch (Angers, Musée des Beaux-Arts) for Fragonard's Coresus and Callirhoe. The latter painting was exhibited to great acclaim in the Salon of 1765 and facilitated Fragonard's acceptance by the Académie as a 'history painter'. Both the present painting and the Angers sketch are possibly inspired by the figure of Aaron in Poussin's Adoration of the Golden Calf (London, National Gallery).