&"In this smart, handsomely produced book, Freund adeptly explores the intersections of self-presentation, aesthetics, politics, and the market in revolutionary France. The events of 1789 not only toppled the Bourbon monarchy but also necessitated a related transformation&-the refashioning of subjects into citizens, with portraiture shouldering a disproportionate share of the representation&'s role under the new regime. Portraits were central because, in Freund&'s words, they addressed 'how to make new people for the new France.&' After an opening chapter that probes this basic demand in relation to aesthetic ideals of transparency and market conditions, the author provides a series of case studies structured thematically around five modes of revolutionary portraiture: depictions of members of the National Assembly (1789&1791), National Guard portraits (1789&1792), the constraints of the presence of women after the Terror (c. 1796), the use of nature in portraits from the late 1790s, and the role of family portraits between 1795 and 1801. The book&'s importance, however, extends well beyond the 1790s. It is a model for thinking about politics and market forces together and ultimately contributes to what a modern sense of self entails.&" &-C.

A. Hanson, Choice.