A portrait of a French general, said to be Jacques Marie Martin de Lagarde, has been circulating on the Internet for some time, e.g. here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/416339512823992/
I wonder what this identification is based on. So far I have only found the portrait on Wikipedia, without further information:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Baron_Jacques_Martin_de_Lagarde.jpg
Nothing about the provenance of the portrait, nothing about its location, nothing about the artist (known or anonymous?), nothing about those who made this identification.
The only thing that seems certain is that the portrait represents a général de brigade decorated with the Cross of the Légion d'honneur, either an "officier" or a „commandant" of the order's cross of the 4th type.
[Unfortunately, it remains quite a mystery how an officer's cross was distinguished from the cross of a "commandant" during the Empire and the 1st Restauration. As far as I know, there is no respective decree, or any decisive evidence regarding different sizes, ribbons or ways of wearing them - not before the Ordonnance du Roi of March 26, 1816, when it was stipulated that from then on a "commandeur" (the new designation for „commandant“) should wear his cross "en sautoir", i.e., on a ribbon around the neck (which, it seems, was already quite the norm with non-military "commandants" during the Empire).]
The centre of the cross seems to be adorned with Napoleon's right-facing profile, crowned with a laurel wreath, the crown on top of the cross appears to be the Imperial, not the Royal one. So, if it is de Lagarde's portrait indeed, it should have been painted after 30 mai 1813 (when he was promoted to général de brigade) and before 19th July 1814 (when the crosses of the Légion d’honneur were redesigned) or, at the latest, before 11 october 1814 (when de Lagarde was appointed chevalier de l'Ordre de Saint-Louis). At any rate, I cannot recognize any signs of affiliation to the Bourbons.
But the cross of the Order of Saint-Louis would certainly have been added after 11 october 1814. Assuming this had been the case, it would probably have been painted over after Napoleon's return from Elba and definitely added again after Napoleon's second abdication as, to my knowledge, de Lagarde - despite having exercised a command under Napoleon during the Hundred Days - was confirmed in his titles and dignities under the 2nd Restauration: Baron, maréchal de camp - the Bourbonian designation for "général de brigade“ - , "commandant" (then "commandeur") of the Légion d'honneur, chevalier of the Order of Saint Louis.
It's really hard to believe that the portrait actually was subjected to such a fussy to and fro, isn’t it?
So, again: On what basis was the sitter identified as Jacques Marie Martin de Lagarde, and by whom? Anybody?