The real name of this artist was Anne-Louis Girodet de Coussy; but he took the name of Trioson from his adopted father and benefactor, a physician, to whom he was indebted for his education. He was the son of the Duke of Orleans’ steward, and intended for the army, but evincing a great taste for painting, was placed in the studio of David. Afterwards proceeding to Rome, he received the first prize for a work of art in that city. At the end of five years returned to Paris, where an apartment was assigned him in the Louvre. In 1806, he gained a prize by his picture of “The Deluge,” competing with his old master, David. Girodet did not produce many works, habitual ill-health disabling his pencil; but he left enough behind him to maintain his reputation. His chief pictures are “Endymion,” “Hippocrates,” “The Revolt in Cairo,” and “Napoleon Receiving the Keys of Vienna.” The colouring of Girodet is cold and earthy; and his figures, whilst revealing the classic form and correct drawing that characterize the labours of all David’s pupils, lose the expression of inward life. In spite of obvious deficiencies in truthful representation, his paintings produce a deep, and occasionally a powerful impression.
[From a marble in the Louvre—the author unknown. One by M. Roman was in the French Exhibition of 1827.]
212. François Gérard. Painter.
[Born at Rome, 1770. Died in Paris, 1837. Aged 67.]
Studied under Pajou the sculptor, then with Brenet, and finally with David, whom he assisted in several works, until 1794, when he exhibited his own picture of “The Tenth of August” (the day of the storming of the Tuileries in 1792). Under the influence of David, Gérard became one of the jury of the Revolutionary Tribunal—an office from which he subsequently shrunk. He received great honour and distinction at the hands of Napoleon; and the Emperor Alexander, and the Duke of Wellington, became his friends. A man of extensive knowledge, and, as a painter, to be recommended for taste and refinement, rather than for invention or sublimity. His colouring, though harmonious, is not always true. His subjects were chiefly historical, and in these the arrangement of the figures and the selection of costume are always pleasing. He was also successful as a portrait painter.
[From a marble in the Louvre, by Pradier, 1838.]
213. Antoine Jean Gros. Painter.
[Born in Paris, 1771. Died there, 1835. Aged 64.]
One of the most distinguished of David’s pupils. Appalled by the horrors of the first Revolution, he quitted France, and withdrew to Geneva; thence to Milan, where he became known to Buonaparte, by whom he was countenanced and employed. He followed the army for six years, and returned to France in 1801. Then painted several pictures commemorative of Napoleon’s military achievements. He enjoyed ample patronage under both the Emperor, and the Restoration; but in his later years he fell into melancholy; and one morning his body was found in the Seine. His compositions are remarkable for boldness and facility of invention; but his colouring is frequently exaggerated. His subjects, too, though invariably treated with power, degenerate occasionally into vulgarity and theatrical display. His best picture is “The Plague at Jaffa.” He was a man of cultivated mind, and passionately fond of music.
[From the marble in the Louvre, by Debay Sen., 1827.]