French term. Portrait in full profile on a background of a contrasting colour (usually black on white) similar to a shadow on a wall. Generally, the stylized profile of a figure or a form is identifiable thanks to the particularity of its outline. The term became attributed to this type of drawing (very popular from the middle of the 18th to the end of the 19th Century), with an ironic referral to the General financial controller, Etienne de Silhouette, under the reign of Louis XV. He was noted for his severe fiscal ordinances that reduced the goods of the taxpayers to a minimum.