François Gérard (attributed), Very Large Hst, Late 18th-early 19th Century.

Superb and imposing oil on canvas, attributed to François Gérard (known as Baron Gérard), executed between the end of the 18th century and the very beginning of the 19th century.

The painting, titled on the cartridge, "Passage of the Styx", depicts the descent of Aeneas into Hell. The hero, accompanied by the Sibyl of Cumae, travels to the kingdom of Hades to find his father Anchises.
We find Charon the ferryman (or the ferryman), son of Erebus (Darkness) and Nyx (Night), the cerberus (three-headed dog, guardian of the gate to hell) and the serpent (favorite animal of Hades).
On the left side, in the background, wandering souls are represented. These, not having paid the mite, are condemned to wander for a hundred years on the banks of the Acheron and the Styx. The little boy is the storyteller of this scene. He is the only one looking at the spectator, like a witness coming to report an event to his audience.

In the 1st century BC. BC, in the Aeneid, Virgil describes Charon wielding a rust-colored oar, during the descent of Aeneas, accompanied by the Sibyl of Cumae, with the aim of seeing his father Anchises (canto VI of the Aeneid ). Virgil also describes the desperate souls seeking to cross the Acheron.

Although this painting could be attributed to Nicolas Louis François Gosse, no similarity appears between this painting and those of this artist.
The work, the subject, the pictorial techniques as well as the "brushstroke" correspond perfectly to the work of François Gérard.

Beautiful state of conservation, some old restorations. Not cleaned.
Original canvas.

Dimensions outside frame:
Height 145 cm
Width 115 cm

Pretty gilded wooden frame, good condition.

François Gérard (known as Baron Gérard), 1770-1837:
Student of Jacques-Louis David, court painter under Napoleon I and later painter to Kings Louis XVIII and Charles X, François Gérard was the portraitist of the sovereign families of Europe. Son of a French civil servant stationed in Rome, Gérard was born in the Eternal City but received his artistic training in Paris, notably with David from 1786.
Winner of the second Prix de Rome in 1789, he was prevented from competing again the following year, but can stay in Italy.
He debuted at the Salon of 1791, and, protected by his master David, was able to devote himself fully to his art, and obtained accommodation and a studio at the Louvre.
His Bélisaire, presented at the Salon of 1795, and the portrait of his friend Isabey, the following year, launched his career.
Noticed by the Bonapartes, he worked for them at Malmaison, then as official painter of the Empire, delivering historical and mythological paintings and portraits, and in particular the official effigies of the sovereigns in 1805 and 1807.
Uniting the refinements of the 18th century with the most modern codes of representation, François Gérard enjoys great success in the art of portraiture, always knowing how to renew himself in the layout and sending back to his models the image of the most flattering elegance.
Between 1796 and 1836 he delivered more than eighty full-length portraits, repeated in number by his workshop, of which Versailles retains the reductions by his hand or the workshop, acquired at his death.


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