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1808
Before he became famous for painting dramatic shipwrecks, a young Théodore Géricault was absolutely obsessed with horses and military life. In this lively 1808 sketch, a Napoleonic-era cavalryman, complete with a dramatic plumed helmet and slung rifle, hoists himself onto his restless mount. Notice the exotic fortress in the background, complete with a crescent moon atop the tower, hinting at the Romantic era's love for the dramatic and the foreign. It captures a fleeting, unposed moment of military preparation, showing Géricault's incredible talent for capturing animal anatomy and human movement even in his early studies.
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