Shop art print and framed art Portrait de son geolier by Jacques-Louis David

Le Geôlier, ou Portrait de son geôlier (The Jailer, or Portrait of his Jailer) is an undated and unsigned painting from the late eighteenth century (c. 1794) or early nineteenth century, the attribution of which, as regards its author, is subject to debate. It is part of the collections of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen (inventory number 1931.15). Because of the way the figure is treated, it is considered by the museum that holds it to be an authentic painting by Jacques-Louis David. This attribution was defended by Nicolas Sainte Fare Garnot during the David exhibition at the Musée Jacquemart-André. Antoine Schnapper, the curator of the 1989 David exhibition, was more cautious, acknowledging that after a recent cleaning of the canvas, it might deserve to be rehabilitated. Since the end of the 19th century, this painting has been presented as the portrait of David's jailer, when the artist was imprisoned in the Hôtel des Farms after the fall of Robespierre. This brings the period in which the painting was produced closer to the painter's self-portrait from that period. On a label stuck to the reverse of the canvas is an inscription: THIS PORTRAIT WAS PAINTED BY THE PAINTER DAVID WHEN HE WAS IN PRISON, IT REPRESENTS HIS JAILER THE SON OF THIS JAILER, RETIRED OFFICER LIVED COMPIEGNE AND AT THE TIME OF HIS ENTRY WITH THE INVALIDS OFFERED THE PORTRAIT WHICH IT COULD NOT TAKE ALONG, WITH DOCTOR JOSSET HIS DOCTOR, IN MEMORY AND THANKS FOR HIS GOOD [...]

 

This artwork is a painting from the classical period. It belongs to the neoclassicism style.

 

« Portrait de son geolier » is kept at Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen, France.

 

Find the full description of Portrait de son geolier by Jacques-Louis David on Wikipedia.