Corinne au Cap Misène

François Gérard's Corinne au Cap Misène of 1819 depicts the heroine of Madame de Staël's celebrated 1807 novel improvising inspired poetry on the promontory of Cape Misenum above the Bay of Naples. Corinne was the defining fictional image of female genius for the Romantic era, and Gérard's painting made the novel's most memorable scene visually canonical. The painting was an enormous success, providing the Restoration aristocracy with a Romantic ideal of feminine inspiration that reconciled classical setting with modern passionate sensibility.

Gérard combines a dramatic coastal landscape with an idealized female figure in flowing white drapery. The theatrical lighting and panoramic Italian seascape create a sublime setting for the poetess's inspired performance.