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Théodore Géricault

Born: Rouen, 26 September 1791
Died: Paris, 26 January 1824
Nationality: French
Background: 

provincial bourgeois family

Studies: 

Lycée Imperial, Paris; with Carle Vernet (1808-9); with Pierre Guérin (1810); copies Old Master paintings at the Louvre (1811-15)

Career: 

1808 – Géricault’s mother dies leaving him an annuity and financial independence

1812 –gold medal at Salon for Charging Chasseur (Officer of the Imperial Guard on Horseback)

1814 –restoration of the Bourbon monarchy; Géricault buys commission in Mousquetaires Gris (ceremonial royal calvary)

1815 - serves in the flight of Louis XVIII to Belgium during Napoleon’s brief restoration to power

1816 – fails to win Prix de Rome; visits Florence and Rome; frigate Medusa is shipwrecked

1818 – begins producing lithographs, including a series based on contemporary events

1819 –Raft of the Medusa causes sensation at Salon  

Travels

Florence and Rome (1816-17); England (1820-21)

Important Artworks: 

Charging Chasseur (Officer of the Imperial Guard on Horseback)  (1812, Louvre, Paris)

Web Resources:

Smarthistory.com: Gericault´s Raft of the Medusa