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Lot Essay
Géricault was especially adroit in depicting military subjects, whether contemporary, historical or exotic. The epic monumentality of a soldier in battle and the horror of violent defeat equally captivated the artist. The present drawing can be related to a group of highly finished drawings of military figures done in the late 1810s and it is a preparatory study for a slightly larger and more finished watercolor in Rouen (G. Bazin, Théodore Géricault, Paris, 1992, V, no. 1537) also identified as General Kléber at the battle of Saint-Jean-d'Acre.
The battle took place between French and Ottoman troops before the walled city of Acre in 1799 as part of Napoleon's failed bid to expand his rule further east. General Kléber (1735-1800), who began his military career during the French revolution, took part in this campaign, and when Napoleon left the Middle East to return to Paris, Kléber was named head of the French forces. A year later in 1800 Kleber was assassinated by a student in Cairo.
Here the general is depicted climbing a hill towards a walled citadel, a battalion of soldiers behind him. The drawing does not seem related to a painted or engraved commission. Some of Géricault's highly finished military subjects were translated into engraved works, such as Field artillery during a battle (Paris, Louvre, inv. RF 1748) which corresponds to his lithograph, Artillerie changeant de position (Delteil 16).
It is unclear why Géricault depicted an episode nearly twenty years in the past and after Napoleon's fall from power. Interestingly in 1818 (about the same time this drawing and the Rouen one were probably made) King Louis XVIII ordered Kléber's remains, which had been interred in an island near Marseilles, returned to his hometown of Strasbourg. Napoleon had not wanted a public burial for Kléber, fearing it would become a symbol of republicanism. Perhaps this event rekindled interest in Kléber's military feats and influenced Gericault's choice of subject.
The battle took place between French and Ottoman troops before the walled city of Acre in 1799 as part of Napoleon's failed bid to expand his rule further east. General Kléber (1735-1800), who began his military career during the French revolution, took part in this campaign, and when Napoleon left the Middle East to return to Paris, Kléber was named head of the French forces. A year later in 1800 Kleber was assassinated by a student in Cairo.
Here the general is depicted climbing a hill towards a walled citadel, a battalion of soldiers behind him. The drawing does not seem related to a painted or engraved commission. Some of Géricault's highly finished military subjects were translated into engraved works, such as Field artillery during a battle (Paris, Louvre, inv. RF 1748) which corresponds to his lithograph, Artillerie changeant de position (Delteil 16).
It is unclear why Géricault depicted an episode nearly twenty years in the past and after Napoleon's fall from power. Interestingly in 1818 (about the same time this drawing and the Rouen one were probably made) King Louis XVIII ordered Kléber's remains, which had been interred in an island near Marseilles, returned to his hometown of Strasbourg. Napoleon had not wanted a public burial for Kléber, fearing it would become a symbol of republicanism. Perhaps this event rekindled interest in Kléber's military feats and influenced Gericault's choice of subject.