Hoping for the end of change? (Favorites in the National Gallery at Washington, 2)
Post published:December 15, 2015
This is the second in a series of posts on my favorite paintings in the National Gallery in Washington.
I don’t feel strongly about many works by Gericault, which is odd since he’s one of the earliest French Romantics, and rousing emotions was usually what the Romantics did best. But I like the bravado of this particular painting: the bright uniforms of the trumpeters and the energy of the horse at the center. If I were a painter, I’d be taking notes on the way Gericault varies his brushwork to achieve specific and overall effects.
Théodore Gericault (French, 1791 – 1824 ), Mounted Trumpeters of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard, 1813/1814, oil on canvas, Washington, National Gallery, Chester Dale Fund. Photo: National Gallery.
Gericault never painted Napoleon, only the ordinary men surrounding the emperor. That may explain why Gericault could still bear to paint military-themed works in 1813-1814, after Napoleon had suffered a crushing defeat in the Russian campaign (380,000 men dead and 100,000 captured). Napoleon abdicated the imperial throne on April 6, 1814.
The colors: I suspect this image from the National Gallery’s site is more drab than the actual work. But then, Gericault (and the Romantic painters in general) did lean toward somber colors.
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