Théodore Gericault

Anonymous sale, Tajan, Paris, 15 April 1996, lot 60.

Napoleon: An Intimate Portrait. A travelling exhibition from the Russell Etling Company featuring the Collection of Pierre-Jean Chalençon, Catalogue by Pierre-Jean Chalençon, Brett Topping and Russell Hull Etling, Russell Etling Company, 2005-2011, p. 82.

This little drawing is a copy by Gericault of a face that appears in the painting by Jean-Antoine Gros, Napoleon at the Battle of Eylau (1807–1808; Musée du Louvre) (see lot 73). The image is of a wounded soldier, lying on the ground; only his head, wrapped in a blood-soaked bandage, can be seen among others behind the rump of the Emperor’s horse. The intense gaze of the soldier, possibly dying, as he raises his head with difficulty to catch a glimpse of Napoleon, may have moved Gericault and prompted him to choose this detail, one of the most understated and discreet in this vast composition dedicated to Napoleon’s glorification.

Gericault’s admiration for Gros was unreserved and he made copies of his works on several occasions. These include a very freely executed copy after the Equestrian portrait of Jérôme Bonaparte (see lot 75), now in the Musée Eugène Delacroix, Paris.