Girodet – The Romantic Rebel

Who was Girodet? And why should we really care?

For starters, he was the first one ever to make a full length portrait of a black man as a true western political legislator, dressed in European clothes. See below the Portrait of Citizen Belley, Ex-Representative of the Colonies (1797).

Girodet was also a master draftsman. His drawings are alive. The precision of rendering is almost photographic, and each detail breathes life into the subject.

Girodet became a painter against his parents' will. He was a pupil of the renowned neoclassical painter Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825). Of all his students, Girodet was the most gifted and also the most erudite. Moreover, he was rebellious and competitive. This led him to part with the strict neoclassical teachings and to embark onto Romanticism.

Girodet was the first French painter to portray emotion. David said of him “on nous fait les personnages de crystal” (“He makes crystal-clear personages”). And indeed he did. Each evocative gesture in Girodet’s paintings and drawings, each facial and bodily expression reveal internal world of people he portrayed.

Girodet was also interested in unusual colour effects and in the problems of concentrated light and shade. He masterfully employs light and shade in rendering the volume of a human body, or to create a specific allegorical, sensual, or “romanticized” effect in his paintings.

Girodet was born on January 29, 1767, and was named Anne-Louis Girodet. At that time, Anne was considered to be both a masculine and a feminine name. His father died in 1784 and his mother in 1787 when Girodet was barely 20. A neighbor, a friend of the family Doctor Trioson took Girodet under his protection and guidance right after Girodet’s father death. In 1908, when Girodet was 41, Dr. Trioson, whose wife and children have died, adopted Girodet as his own son. And this is when Girodet’s official name became Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson.

We can only assume that it was thanks to the Dr. Trioson’s constant support and care that Girodet’s talent has blossomed freely. Not only did he become known as a historical painter, but he also painted allegorical subject matters and excelled in sensual depiction of human body. He also illustrated books, for instance those of Virgil, as well as many poetical works.

What was less know of Girodet, and what has come to light quite recently, is that he also painted a lot of commissioned portraits of various well-to-do people, both men and women. It is speculated that many such portraits are still held in private collections and are unknown to the art world.

After his death on December 9, 1824, King Louis XVIII made Girodet posthumously an officer of the Legion of Honour, in recognition of his artistic contribution to France.

Girodet’s paintings, drawings and sketches are presently on display at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Girodet’s collection has been shown in Paris, Chicago and New York. Many of his works have traveled to North America for the first time ever.


Photo 1
GIRODET de Roussy-Trioson, Anne-Louis
Self-portrait with Neckerchief and Hat
About 1790
Black crayon, black chalk, white guash highlights
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Delia E. Holden Fund, 1978.79
Photo © The Cleveland Museum of Art

Photo 2
GIRODET de Roussy-Trioson, Anne-Louis
Portrait of Citizen Belley, Ex-Representative of the Colonies
About 1797
Oil on canvas
Musée national des châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon
Photo © RMN/Gérard Blot