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Title: Belisarius Artist/Maker: Baron François-Pascal-Simon Gérard (French, born Italy, 1770 - 1837) Culture: French Place: Paris, France (Place created) Date: 1797 Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 91.8 × 72.5 cm (36 1/8 × 28 9/16 in.) Department: Paintings Classification: Paintings Object Type: Painting Object Number: 2005.10 Along a winding dirt path, the blind Belisarius carries his young guide. The boy has been bitten by a snake, which remains coiled around his bleeding leg. With his right arm wrapped limply around Belisarius's neck and his eyes closed, the youth balances precariously between life and death. Belisarius's eyes are also closed, but guided by his stick he moves forward with determination and purpose. He rises heroically against the spectacular sunset, a monumental figure creating a powerful outline against the sky. But the flaring sunset also signals a chill night and the uncertainty of the path ahead. Belisarius was a popular Byzantine general of the Roman Empire whose promising career was sabotaged by the jealous Emperor Justinian I. In 1767, a novel by Jean-François Marmontel revived interest in Belisarius. In Marmontel's novel, the emperor has the heroic general blinded, reducing Belisarius to begging. He is eventually rediscovered and aided by former officers and his family. This dramatic tale of patriotism, injustice, and redemption was widely embraced in revolutionary and post-revolutionary France and was a popular subject for artists--including Jacques-Louis David (François Gérard's teacher), Jean-Antoine Houdon, and Jean-Baptiste Stouf (whose sculpture Belisarius is also in the Museum's collection). For this painting, Gérard both drew and departed from Marmontel's retelling of Belisarius's life. The general's young companion is present in Marmontel's novel. But to stress the bravery and pathos of the subject, Gérard introduced the incapacitating snakebite. While Belisarius was typically depicted in the act of begging, Gérard shows him standing and erect, his muscular form in sharp contrast to his guide's weakening body. The prominent helmet hanging from Belisarius's belt emphasizes the general's heroic past and underscores the injustice of his fall from favor. Text from: www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/225120/baron-francois-pascal-simon-gerard-belisarius-french-1797

Title: Belisarius Artist/Maker: Baron François-Pascal-Simon Gérard (French, born Italy, 1770 - 1837) Culture: French Place: Paris, France (Place created) Date: 1797 Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 91.8 × 72.5 cm (36 1/8 × 28 9/16 in.) Department: Paintings Classification: Paintings Object Type: Painting Object Number: 2005.10 Along a winding dirt path, the blind Belisarius carries his young guide. The boy has been bitten by a snake, which remains coiled around his bleeding leg. With his right arm wrapped limply around Belisarius's neck and his eyes closed, the youth balances precariously between life and death. Belisarius's eyes are also closed, but guided by his stick he moves forward with determination and purpose. He rises heroically against the spectacular sunset, a monumental figure creating a powerful outline against the sky. But the flaring sunset also signals a chill night and the uncertainty of the path ahead. Belisarius was a popular Byzantine general of the Roman Empire whose promising career was sabotaged by the jealous Emperor Justinian I. In 1767, a novel by Jean-François Marmontel revived interest in Belisarius. In Marmontel's novel, the emperor has the heroic general blinded, reducing Belisarius to begging. He is eventually rediscovered and aided by former officers and his family. This dramatic tale of patriotism, injustice, and redemption was widely embraced in revolutionary and post-revolutionary France and was a popular subject for artists--including Jacques-Louis David (François Gérard's teacher), Jean-Antoine Houdon, and Jean-Baptiste Stouf (whose sculpture Belisarius is also in the Museum's collection). For this painting, Gérard both drew and departed from Marmontel's retelling of Belisarius's life. The general's young companion is present in Marmontel's novel. But to stress the bravery and pathos of the subject, Gérard introduced the incapacitating snakebite. While Belisarius was typically depicted in the act of begging, Gérard shows him standing and erect, his muscular form in sharp contrast to his guide's weakening body. The prominent helmet hanging from Belisarius's belt emphasizes the general's heroic past and underscores the injustice of his fall from favor. Text from: www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/225120/baron-francois-pascal-simon-gerard-belisarius-french-1797

Title: Belisarius Artist/Maker: Baron François-Pascal-Simon Gérard (French, born Italy, 1770 - 1837) Culture: French Place: Paris, France (Place created) Date: 1797 Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 91.8 × 72.5 cm (36 1/8 × 28 9/16 in.) Department: Paintings Classification: Paintings Object Type: Painting Object Number: 2005.10 Along a winding dirt path, the blind Belisarius carries his young guide. The boy has been bitten by a snake, which remains coiled around his bleeding leg. With his right arm wrapped limply around Belisarius's neck and his eyes closed, the youth balances precariously between life and death. Belisarius's eyes are also closed, but guided by his stick he moves forward with determination and purpose. He rises heroically against the spectacular sunset, a monumental figure creating a powerful outline against the sky. But the flaring sunset also signals a chill night and the uncertainty of the path ahead. Belisarius was a popular Byzantine general of the Roman Empire whose promising career was sabotaged by the jealous Emperor Justinian I. In 1767, a novel by Jean-François Marmontel revived interest in Belisarius. In Marmontel's novel, the emperor has the heroic general blinded, reducing Belisarius to begging. He is eventually rediscovered and aided by former officers and his family. This dramatic tale of patriotism, injustice, and redemption was widely embraced in revolutionary and post-revolutionary France and was a popular subject for artists--including Jacques-Louis David (François Gérard's teacher), Jean-Antoine Houdon, and Jean-Baptiste Stouf (whose sculpture Belisarius is also in the Museum's collection). For this painting, Gérard both drew and departed from Marmontel's retelling of Belisarius's life. The general's young companion is present in Marmontel's novel. But to stress the bravery and pathos of the subject, Gérard introduced the incapacitating snakebite. While Belisarius was typically depicted in the act of begging, Gérard shows him standing and erect, his muscular form in sharp contrast to his guide's weakening body. The prominent helmet hanging from Belisarius's belt emphasizes the general's heroic past and underscores the injustice of his fall from favor. Text from: www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/225120/baron-francois-pascal-simon-gerard-belisarius-french-1797

Title: Study of a Model Artist/Maker: Théodore Géricault (French, 1791 - 1824) Culture: French Place: France (Place created) Date: about 1818 - 1819 Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 47 × 38.7 cm (18 1/2 × 15 1/4 in.) Department: Paintings Classification: Paintings Object Type: Painting Object Number: 85.PA.407 This portrait was made as a study for Théodore Géricault's most famous painting, The Raft of the Medusa, made in 1819 and now in the Louvre. In a clear case of ineptitude, the ship named Medusa foundered in the sea off the coast of Africa in 1816. A raft with 140 passengers drifted for thirteen days before being rescued; only fifteen people survived. In preparation for his disturbing and controversial painting of the incident, Géricault made many studies from life, like this one, to achieve a sense of realism and specificity. The sitter wears a shirt similar to those worn by the survivors of the Medusa. Géricault captured the man's character with great sympathy and spontaneity; his watery eyes do not focus on anything outside the canvas but appear to express an internal torment. Shades of brown, gray, and beige blend together to imitate his dark complexion. Dabs of white and beige paint are used to indicate reflective light in his eyes and on the tip of his nose, his bottom lip, and his chin. Text from: www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/779/theodore-gericault-study-of-a-model-french-about-1818-1819

Title: Houses near Orléans (Maisons aux Environs d'Orléans) Artist/Maker: Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (French, 1796 - 1875) Culture: French Date: about 1830 Medium: Oil on paper mounted on millboard Dimensions: 28.6 × 38.6 cm (11 1/4 × 15 3/16 in.) Markings: At lower right, the artist's estate sale stamp (Lugt 461) in red paint: "vente Corot"; on the verso of the millboard, the artist's estate sale stamp in red wax, and in black stencil: "Detrimont/Tableaux/Dorure/Rue Laffite 27 Paris." Alternate Titles: Houses near Orléans (Display Title) Department: Paintings Classification: Paintings Object Type: Painting Object Number: 2002.35 A countryside path cuts across a mustard-yellow field and slopes downward toward a small village. Under a cloudless sky, crisp, strong sunlight brightens a zigzag row of roofs and chimneys. Contrasting shadows are cast from rooftop to rooftop. In the right foreground, a less sharply defined verdant mass balances the geometrical order of the architecture. During the summer of 1830, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot left his native Paris and traveled in northern and central France. The oil study was most likely produced during this sojourn. Corot painted the view in the out-of-doors. Scholars believe this work was not intended for exhibition or sale nor did it serve as a preliminary study for a larger picture. Instead, it is likely the work remained in Corot's studio as an exploration of the effects of light and nature on geometric architectural forms. Text from: www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/134031/jean-baptiste-camille-corot-houses-near-orleans-maisons-aux-environs-d'orleans-french-about-1830/