Portrait Study of a Youth

In the Salon of 1819, Géricault showed his celebrated Raft of the Medusa. During a period of illness and convalescence in the seven months between the completion of the Medusa and the artist’s departure for England in April of 1820, he turned to small works, among them portraits of adolescents. The Study of a Youth may have been executed in this period. The effects of light in the flushed cheek, glossy hair, and gleaming eyes lend the work a liveliness and intimacy of characterization. Géricault’s influence on the development of the Romantic movement was enormous, exceeding what might have been expected from the few works he exhibited. His art was a starting point for the young Delacroix, who admired him deeply.