 The canvas, signed B. N. De La Pierre, is dated 1785 and measures 29-1/2 inches (height) by 24-1/2 inches (width).It shows an 18th-century gentleman sitting at a desk and beginning to write on a single sheet of paper.On the desk in the foreground is displayed a copy of "De la Caisse d’Escompte", a financial pamphlet published on 17 May 1785 by the French orator and statesman Mirabeau (Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau).