Visual Automathographies: The Portraits of Émilie du Châtelet

Abstract

This paper offers the notion of a visual automathography—the self-construction of a scholarly persona in science and mathematics through portraiture—by analysing key representations of Émilie du Châtelet across her lifecourse. While traditional portraiture offers a static image of its subject, a series of portraits provides an alternative approach to temporality, capturing the evolving negotiation of scholarly authority. Through a close reading of Du Châtelet’s portraits, the paper explores how visual markers such as books, mathematical instruments, and gestural cues encoded her identity as a mathematician, scientist and philosopher within the constraints of aristocratic femininity. Drawing on Peircean semiotics, the paper investigates how these portraits function as layered sign systems, where symbolic, indexical, and iconic elements reinforce her intellectual claims. Ultimately, this study argues that Du Châtelet’s visual automathography extended beyond individual portraits, forming a strategic and dynamic self-representation that continues to shape her legacy in the histories of mathematics, science and philosophy.