Hyacinthe Rigaud’s work presents the lasting image of the late Baroque court culture of Louis XIV’s Versailles. Rigaud produced state portraits of royalty, courtiers, and foreign visitors, with rich clothing, full wigs, and regal poses against a background of columns and curtains. Edward Villiers, a favorite at the English court of William and Mary, was ambassador to Louis XIV in 1698 and 1699, when Rigaud painted Villiers’ portrait. Rather than a preparatory study, however, the drawing is one of many that record Rigaud’s finished paintings. The quality of these drawings indicates that they must have been made by Rigaud himself, to be kept in a portfolio in his studio as a record of his work. The faint black squaring would have been used to transfer the design to yet another work, such as an engraving, or to reproduce the same pose in another portrait.