The Fencing-Match between the Chevalier de Saint-George and the Chevalier d'Eon, c.1787-89 (oil on canvas)

Robineau was a composer and violinist as well as artist; he used the name Alexandre for his musical and Auguste for his artistic activities. He was in London a great deal in the 1780s coming into contact with the Prince of Wales in both his professional capacities. The subject of this painting can be ascertained through the print made after it published in 1789 by Victor Marie Picot. The Chevalier d'Éon (1728-1810) was notorious mostly because nobody could determine his gender, having spent the first half of his life as a man and the second as a woman. Medical examination after his death revealed him to be a man. Even during her female times Eon remained a keen fencer; this encounter took place at Carlton House on 9 April 1787 in the presence of the Prince of Wales, sundry gentlemen and fencing aficionados. Here we see the Chevalier de Saint-George getting slightly the worse of the encounter, with the Chevalier d'Éon, dressed in female clothes to the right. The contest is watched from behind a barrier by a group of spectators, including the Prince of Wales, wearing the Star of the Garter, and some women and children. Chevalier d'Eon (1728-1809) George IV, King of the United Kingdom (1762-1830) Chevalier de Saint George (1745-99) Charles Genevieve d' Eon de Beaumont (1728-1810)