Galerie Paul Prouté

Born into a middle-class family in Rouen, Théodore Géricault went to Paris from 1808 to 1812 to study in Carle Vernet’s studio, then in Guérin’s in 1810. Rather than compete for the Prix de Rome, he chose to train on his own, making numerous studies from the antique or the live model, and copying the Masters. However, he went to Rome and then to Florence, where he could see the works of the masters he admired so much, especially Michelangelo and Raphael. His passion for horseback riding led him to make numerous studies of horses, which he reused in many of his compositions. His return to France was marked by the scandal of the shipwreck of the Medusa. But the painting he did of it did not obtain the expected success. After a stay in Fontainebleau, Géricault withdrew to England, where The Raft of the Medusa received more praise than in France. He returned after a year and a half. A badly treated fall from a horse, complicated by a venereal disease, put an end to his too short career.