Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (2 February 1754 – 17 May 1838) was a French politician and diplomat. His career spanned the regimes of Louis XVI, Napoleon, Louis XVIII and Louis-Philippe, as well as the French Revolutionary era preceding Napoleon. Those whom he served often distrusted him but found him extremely useful, and the name "Talleyrand" has become a byword for crafty, cynical diplomacy.
This portrait in oils was painted by Pierre-Paul Prud'hon in 1817, during the reign of Louis XVIII; Prud'hon had previously painted a portrait of each of Napoleon's two wives. The picture is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.Painting credit: Pierre-Paul Prud'hon