The Revolt at Cairo
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.Recently rediscovered, this drawing is part of a group of studies Girodet made in preparation for his canvas "The Revolt of Cairo," commissioned by Napoleon in 1809. This sketch in black chalk shows the artist’s earliest conceptions for the left side of the composition. As Girodet was not present during the Napoleonic army’s violent suppression of an uprising in Cairo following the French invasion and occupation of the city in 1798, these turbulent scenes of conflict are creations of his fertile imagination. Remarkably, the finished painting retains many elements already present in the drawings, including the posture of the charging French hussar (light cavalryman) with sword raised above his head.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Revolt at Cairo
- Artist: Anne Louis Girodet-Trioson (French, Montargis 1767–1824 Paris)
- Date: ca. 1809
- Medium: Black chalk on blue paper
- Dimensions: 9 1/4 × 14 1/4 in. (23.5 × 36.2 cm)
Frame: 17 1/4 × 22 in. (43.8 × 55.9 cm) - Classification: Drawings
- Credit Line: Private Collection
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints