Portrait of Jean de Thévenot

Jean de Thévenot was a linguist, natural scientist, botanist, and traveler who wrote extensively about his journeys to the eastern Mediterranean and Turkey. He is also the man we can thank for introducing coffee to Parisian society in 1657 and for instructing the French in its use. We do not know why Philippe de Champaigne, one of the greatest French French painters of the 17th century, painted his portrait but it is obvious he took pleasure in rendering the lavish fabrics, Turkish-inspired domed architecture, and almost translucent complexion of this striking and exotic figure.