Portrait of Hector Berlioz

Courbet made a point of representing the major figures in French cultural life of the first half of the nineteenth century. The celebrated Romantic composer Hector Berlioz did not, however, much like Courbet's portrait, which he thought lacking in either feeling or identifying attributes. Courbet painted the composer on the by now conventional dark background in an attitude of retreat, as though hounded by destiny.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 11 minutes): Hector Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini, overture