Portrait study of a man in profile, half-length

This sheet may have been part of the ‘violet’ album which belonged to Colonel Louis Bro, Gericault’s friend and neighbour on the rue des Martyrs in Paris: the drawing is on the same type of mount as other known sheets from the now dismantled album. Both the posture and the technique of this portrait are comparable to those of another in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen (inv. 876.7.2, verso; R. Michel, S. Laveissière, Gericault, exhib. cat., Paris, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, 1991-1992, no. 215, ill.). This portrait can be dated to the period when Gericault returned from Italy in 1817 and before he went to England in 1820.
We are grateful to Philippe Grunchec for confirming the attribution after examining the work in person.