Swiss Sentry at the Louvre

Prints and Drawings

1819

Jean Louis André Théodore Géricault
French, 1791-1824

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.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Prints and Drawings

Artist: Jean Louis André Théodore Géricault
Title: Swiss Sentry at the Louvre
Place: France (Artist's nationality)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1819
Medium: Lithograph on ivory wove paper (discolored to cream)
Dimensions: Image: 39.7 × 33 cm (15 11/16 × 13 in.); Sheet: 49.1 × 38.7 cm (19 3/8 × 15 1/4 in.)
Credit Line: The Print and Drawing Fund; The Joseph Brooks Fair Fund
Reference Number: 2008.546
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/195665/manifest.json

Clément 14 II/II

Bazin 1631 II/II

Delteil 15 II/II

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.