About this artwork
Spanning the rise and fall of the Napoleonic Empire, Théodore Géricault’s career culminated during the fractious period of the French Restoration. Though dimmed by brief and disenchanting military service (1815) and the disappointments of the Napoleonic era, he found in lithography an appropriate match for his awareness of the politics of contemporary France. While crossing the Tuileries gardens outside of the Musée du Louvre, a peg-legged French veteran at left confronts a sentry of the Swiss Royal Guard. When the Swiss officer moves to take up his musket, the veteran exposes the Napoleonic cross pinned to his chest, beneath his coat. Despite old age and handicap, the Napoleonic soldier gives a gesture of defiance, thus communicating patriotic pride during a postempiric period. This gesture meets with cheering from Bonapartist observers in the background.
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Prints and Drawings
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Artist
- Jean Louis André Théodore Géricault
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Title
- Swiss Sentry at the Louvre
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Place
- France (Artist's nationality:)
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Date
- 1819
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Medium
- Lithograph on ivory wove paper (discolored to cream)
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Dimensions
- Image: 39.7 × 33 cm (15 11/16 × 13 in.); Sheet: 49.1 × 38.7 cm (19 3/8 × 15 1/4 in.)
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Credit Line
- The Print and Drawing Fund; The Joseph Brooks Fair Fund
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Reference Number
- 2008.546
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IIIF Manifest
- https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/195665/manifest.json
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
