Girodet. Imitations d'Anacreon

The charming painter of Endymion’s Sleep, Atala’s Funeral and Chateaubriand’s Portrait was also a poet. Thanks to his classical education, Girodet (1767-1824) was the author of free translations of ancient Greek and Latin poets.

In 1808 he tried the to imitate and at the same time illustrate the Odes of Anacreon, whose edition was published posthumously. The Musee du Louvre holds the precious manuscript of this intense and complex work, in which the poetic research and graphic invention - compositions or vignettes - intertwine with the text. Only a facsimile could restore this organic whole in its integrity.

This book reconstructs the history of the manuscript, the various stages of the project and the posthumous versions, and analyses the artist’s aesthetic sources.

Girodet’s handwriting is sometimes difficult to decode, but the complete transcription allows the reader to appreciate all the refinements and to rediscover the charm of Anacreontic poetry.

Text in French.