Head of a Guillotined Man
Théodore Géricault·1818–19
Historical Context
Géricault's Head of a Guillotined Man from 1818-19 was made in preparation for The Raft of the Medusa and reflects his radical engagement with mortality that led him to collect severed heads and limbs from hospitals and morgues. Unlike academic painters who used cadavers as neutral anatomical models, Géricault treated them as subjects deserving the same intense observation he gave to living models, pursuing a truthfulness about death that academic painting carefully avoided. The painting belongs to a small group of studies that demonstrate his conviction that art must confront human extremity without evasion, and anticipates the Romantic commitment to emotional and moral authenticity over conventional beauty. These disturbing studies remained in his studio and were not exhibited publicly during his lifetime.
Technical Analysis
The oil on panel achieves startling realism through close observation and bold, direct brushwork. The restricted palette of livid flesh tones against a dark ground creates an almost unbearable intimacy with the subject of violent death.
Provenance
The artist’s estate sale, Hôtel de Buillion, November 2-3, 1824 [possibly no. 17, “Dix études de diverses parties du corps humain” or handwritten addition to a copy of the catalogue in the British Museum, “trois têtes de guillotinés peints peu de temps après...270 (frs.)”; see Eitner 1959]. The painter Auguste Boulard (died 1897), Paris; his estate sale, Pairs, Hôtel Drouot, April 9–10, 1900, no. 130. Édouard Napoléon César Edmond Mortier, duc de Trévise (died 1946), Paris, from at least 1924 until at least 1937 [lent by to Paris 1924 and Paris 1937]. Pierre Dubaut (died 1968) by 1952 [lent by him to London, 1952 and later exhibitions; Dubaut may have acquired it directly from the Duc de Trévise, since they were co-authors of Paris 1924 and Dubaut was the author of Paris 1937]; by descent to his niece Jacqueline Dubaut- Bellonte, Paris; purchased by the Art Institute through her gallery, Galerie du Fleuve, 1992.
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