Théodore Géricault: Officer of the Chasseurs-à-Cheval commanding a charge (1812)
(Musée du Louvre, Paris, France)
a fantastic
French romantic painting this time. We can see a Napoleonic cavalry officer
during a charge. The officer is a member of the 'Chasseurs à cheval de la Garde
Impériale', or the 'Mounted Chasseurs of the French Imperial Guard'. This was a
light cavalry unit which usually provided personal escort to Napoleon. On the
left you can see the rest of his unit with a trumpeter who sounds the charge.
The officer looks behind him, probably
for the last time, before he completes the signal with his sword. This
painting is from 1812.