French Atlantic Portraiture, Creolization, and the Construction of Race, c. 1715 – 1815 In eighteenth century France there was a pervasive belief that the Caribbean islands had the ability to deteriorate and change the European body to the point that became distinct and distanced from its “original” form. This dissertation examines how this idea impacted portraits of influential families that had familial and/or economic ties to French Caribbean colonies. Importantly, this era is considered a moment of flux within understandings of race and racial differences. Here, I examine how categories of whiteness are constructed/defined within portraits of individuals whose status was integrally linked to a system/hierarchy of white superiority. View Past Recipients