The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Portrait of Count Jean-Antoine Chaptal

1824

Antoine-Jean Gros

(French, 1771–1835)
France, 19th century
oil on canvas
Framed: 183.5 x 151.1 x 16.5 cm (72 1/4 x 59 1/2 x 6 1/2 in.); Unframed: 136.5 x 114.3 cm (53 3/4 x 45 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1964.54
Location: 201 French Neoclassical Painting & Sculpture

Description

Count Chaptal (1756-1832) played a major role in the development of industry after the French Revolution. He adapted scientific discoveries to public works projects, and as interior minister, he reformed transportation, public health, and vocational training in France. The portrait extols his career, marked by stacked filing boxes in the background, as well as the honors he wears, from the silk sash of the scientific Order of Saint Michel to the Legion of Honor medal pinned over his heart.
  • Family of the sitter until 1955, bought by Jacques Seligmann, New York. Purchased by the CMA in 1964.
  • Francis, Henry S. “Two Portraits by Aved and Gros.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 51, no. 8 (October 1964): 196–205. Mentioned: p. 196, 201-203; Reproduced: p. 201, fig. 4 www.jstor.org
    “Year in Review for 1964.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 51, no. 10 (December 1964): 236–266. Mentioned: p. 263, no. 76 www.jstor.org
    “Annual Report for 1964.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 52, no. 6 (June 1965): 141–166. Mentioned: p. 144 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 165 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 165 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 203 archive.org
    Argencourt, Louise d', and Roger Diederen. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 4. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 324-328, Vol. I, no. 114
  • Constable to Delacroix: British Art and the French Romantics, 1820-1840. Tate Britain, London (organizer) (February 6-May 11, 2003); Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN (June 1-August 31, 2003); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (September 29, 2003-January 4, 2004).
    Tate Britain (2/6/2003 - 5/11/2003), Minneapolis Institute of Arts (6/1/2003 - 8/31/2003 ) and Metropolitan Museum of Art (9/29/2003 - 1/4/2004): "Constable to Delacroix: British Art and the French Romantics", exh. cat. #103, p. 186.
    French Painting 1774 - 1830: The Age of Revolution. Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, 75008 Paris, France (co-organizer) (November 15, 1974-February 3, 1975); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (co-organizer) (March 10-May 4, 1975); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (co-organizer) (June 12-September 7, 1975).
    Paris, Grand Palais; Detroit Institute of Arts; New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art. French Painting 1774-1830: The Age of Revolution (1974-75), no. 91 (repr.), 275.
    Paris, Musée Royal des Arts. Salon (1824), no. 820, Portrait de M. le comte Chaptal, pair de France.
    Paris, École Nationale des Beaux-Arts. Portraits du siècle (1883), no. 119, Le comte Chaptal, 1.30 x 1.18 cm, collection du comte Chaptal.
    cma 1963. No. 72 (repr.)
    Kansas City, Nelson Gallery and Atkins Museum. Twenty-fifth Anniversary Exhibition (1958), in Nelson Gallery and Atkins Museum Bulletin 1 (December 1958), no. 7, lent by Jacques Seligmann & Co.
    New York, Jacques Seligmann & Co.; Minneapolis Institute of Arts; cma. Baron Antoine-Jean Gros (1771-1835); Painter of Battles. The First Romantic Painter (1955-56), no. 3, lent by private collection, Paris (repr.).
    Paris, Petit Palais. Gros, ses amis, ses élèves (1936), no. 90, Portrait du Comte Chaptal, à Mlle Chaptal.
    Paris, Palais des Beaux-Arts. Exposition David et ses élèves (1913), no. 174, Portrait du Comte Jean-Antoine Chaptal, chimiste, 1.48 x 1.17, appartient à M. le Comte Chaptal.
  • {{cite web|title=Portrait of Count Jean-Antoine Chaptal|url=false|author=Antoine-Jean Gros|year=1824|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1964.54