This engraving depicts the Chevalier d'Éon de Beaumont, a French diplomat, spy, officer, and literary personality. D'Éon lived dressed as a man for forty-nine years and as a woman for thirty-two years, which led his contemporaries to speculate about his gender, and made him one of the most enigmatic figures of the 18th century.

---

Size: 1579px × 1982px
Photo credit: © Recall Pictures / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 1728, 1810, 18th, androgyny, art, biographical, century, chevalier, costume, cross-dressing, cultural, culture, diplomat, dress, duality, engraving, enigmatic, european, exploration, fashion, femininity, figure, french, gender, historical, history, icon, identity, lgbtq, life, literature, london, masculinity, mystery, narratives, nobility, officer, portrait, portraiture, representation, sexuality, social, spy, symbolism, unconventional, É