Portrait of Théodore Gericault

Art Historical Context

This 1824 lithograph captures the likeness of Théodore Géricault, the influential French painter best known for his dramatic Romantic masterpiece *The Raft of the Medusa*. Created in the year of Géricault’s untimely death at age thirty-three, the portrait stands as a poignant tribute to an artist whose bold compositions and emotional intensity helped shape early nineteenth-century Romanticism. The work’s medium—a lithograph—reflects the era’s growing interest in printmaking as a means of wider artistic dissemination, allowing images of celebrated figures to reach broader audiences beyond elite collectors. Lithography, a relatively new technique at the time, enabled artists to draw fluidly on stone, producing rich tonal effects that suited intimate portraits like this one. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Department of Drawings and Prints, the sheet measures just over sixteen inches high, inviting close viewing of the subject’s intense gaze and expressive features. As both a portrait and a print, it underscores Géricault’s enduring legacy among fellow artists and the public, preserving his image through an yet refined artistic form.

About the Artist

Feillet|Théodore Gericault|Alexandre-Marie Colin|Théodore Gericault (French|French|French|French) · 1822 |1791 |1798 |1791 –1828 |1824 |1875 |1824

French, active 1822–28|French, Rouen 1791–1824 Paris|French, Paris 1798–1875 Paris|French, Rouen 1791–1824 Paris