cahn

It is! And here's the rest, not about his looks but his personality: "For eight days, I made dinners of three hours with him [in a small group] which gave me the opportunity to hear him throughout, and to admire the vivacity of his wit, the endearing charms of his address and politeness, so far that I did conceive people could forget what a tyrannic, hard-hearted, and selfish man he is."

Because I have the epic rap battle permanently stuck in my head, I am reminded by this, and also the "as charming an expression...as he can take a rough and threatening one at the head of his troops" in the above quote, of "I've got creative talents and battle malice; hard as steel on the field, genteel in the palace."

This is why people entitle biographies of him with words like "enigma" and "contradictions."

I am also reminded of his ability to charm young Catherine the Great at dinner. He could switch it on when he wanted to, no question.