In this portrait of gardening lord Marquis René-Louis de Girardin, Hall consistently works freely in thin watercolours with a small amount of white highlights in relief. The artist also allows the transparency of the ivory to shine through. The outlines of Houdon’s bronze bust of the marquis’ protégé are visible in the background. This was philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who died in Ermenonville in 1778 and was laid to rest on the Isle of Poplars.