An Allegory of Empress Josephine as Patroness of the Gardens at Malmaison
ca. 1805–6
Medium
Watercolor and pen and black ink, over black chalk underdrawing on paper, laid down on board
Dimensions
5 3/8 x 8 7/16 in. (13.7 x 21.4 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Guy Wildenstein Gift, 2003
Accession Number
2003.134
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
About this artwork
This drawings by french artist baron François Gérard exemplifies the artistic achievements of ca. 1805–6. French artistic production during this era was central to European cultural life, with artists developing new approaches to composition, technique, and subject matter. Drawing served as a vital practice for artists, functioning as both preparatory studies and finished works that reveal creative processes and technical skills. Created in watercolor and pen and black ink, over black chalk unde...
About the Artist
baron François Gérard · 1770–1837
**Baron François Gérard (1770–1837)** was a leading French Neoclassical painter renowned for his elegant portraits of European royalty and political figures. Born François Pascal Simon Gérard in Rome to a French father serving in the Papal States and an Italian mother, he returned with his family to Paris around 1782. There he began his artistic training, first studying sculpture under Augustin Pa...