Caisson d'artillerie
Medium
Graphite on ivory wove paper
Dimensions
22.1 × 28.5 cm (8 3/4 × 11 1/4 in.)
Classification
graphite
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
128096
Art Historical Context
Created in 1818 by Théodore Géricault, one of the leading figures of French Romanticism, *Caisson d’artillerie* captures a moment of military life with quiet intensity. Just a before he unveiled his monumental *Raft of the Medusa*, Géricault turned his attention to the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, recording the everyday equipment and animals that had shaped recent history. The drawing’s modest size—barely larger than a sheet of notebook paper—belies the energy contained within its lines. Working in graphite on smooth ivory wove paper, Géricault demonstrates his celebrated draftsmanship. ...
About the Artist
Jean Louis André Théodore Géricault · 1791–1824
Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault (1791–1824) was born into a prosperous bourgeois family in Rouen, France, the son of a lawyer who managed the family tobacco business. After moving to Paris around 1797, his artistic talent emerged early, nurtured in a circle that included his maternal uncle Jean-Baptiste Caruel and art dealer Jean-Louis Laneuville. Géricault began formal training in 1808 under ...