Étienne Méhul

This 1799 portrait of the composer Étienne Méhul by Antoine-Jean Gros depicts one of the leading French opera composers of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods. Gros, who would become Napoleon's chief battle painter, here shows his considerable skill as a portraitist. Gros's richly colored oil technique bridged David's classical severity—in which he had been trained—with the Romantic colorism that Delacroix would develop in his wake, using warm, vibrant flesh tones and dynamic compositions.

The portrait demonstrates Gros's accomplished technique, with warm, confident handling that captures the musician's intellectual character and Romantic sensibility.