Study for "Portrait of an Indian"

Girodet's study for the Portrait of an Indian from 1807 reveals the preparatory process behind one of his most unusual portraits—a work that engaged with the French Romantic fascination with indigenous peoples of the Americas that had been stimulated by Chateaubriand's Atala and René and the broader culture of the Enlightenment's noble savage discourse. The Indian portrait subject was unusual in French academic painting, and Girodet's decision to paint it alongside his more conventional official commissions reflects his Romantic individualism and his refusal to be confined to the subject categories of his immediate social and professional environment. The preparatory study at the Metropolitan Museum demonstrates the careful observational preparation behind even his most unconventional works.

The study captures the subject with a directness and freshness that the more formal finished painting necessarily moderates. Girodet's drawing is precise and observational, recording anatomical and physiognomic details that would inform the final composition. The handling is looser than in finished works, with the preparatory function allowing greater freedom of brushwork.