The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 25, 2024
Sheet of Sketches (verso)
1819
Location: not on view
Did You Know?
Géricault died at a young age and had a professional career lasting only just over a decade.Description
The inscription at the upper left of the sheet states that Géricault executed these studies at the spring of the Magdelaine, near the forest of Fontainebleau, which he visited in 1819. The male figures closely resemble the earlier studies he made while in Italy of peasants during horse races at annual Roman carnivals. Here, men struggle to keep control of their unseen animals during the moments before the race. The verso female figures, visible though the paper, derive directly from Pompeiian paintings of bacchanals, or revelers participating in festivals honoring Bacchus, the god of wine.- Drawn to the Body: The Human Figure and the Graphic Arts, 1500-1900. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 14-May 23, 1999).Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art; March 14 - May 23, 1999. "Drawn to the Body: The Human Figure and the Graphic Arts, 1500 - 1900."
- {{cite web|title=Sheet of Sketches (verso)|url=false|author=Théodore Géricault|year=1819|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1964.28.b