Boy Giving Oats to an Unhitched Horse

A giant of 19th-century French painting, Théodore Géricault is commonly regarded as one of the founders of French Romanticism along with Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863). This intimately scaled painting features one of Géricault’s favorite subjects, the horse, which for him was a symbol of vital strength. Here he highlights the emotional bond between the noble animal and the young workhand, who gently raises the feedbag to allow the horse to get to the last of the oats at the bottom.

Painted towards the end of Géricault’s tragically short life (he died in January 1824 from complications associated with multiple horse-riding accidents), Boy Giving Oats to an Unhitched Horse showcases Géricault’s exemplary talent through the pictorial cropping and strong diagonal of the composition, the boy’s precarious and momentary stance, the dramatic lighting and ominous sky, and the masterful application of paint.