GÉRARD, François
(b. 1770, Roma, d. 1837, Paris)

Corinne at Cape Miseno

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Oil on millboard, 32 x 25 cm
Private collection

Gérard was commissioned to paint Corinne, the heroine of Madame de Stael's 1807 novel of the same name, on quite a few occasions. The present version depicts Corinne the moment after she relates the stories of the famous Cape Miseno in the Bay of Naples, shown here in the background. In a moment of great nostalgia and sadness, the poetess, dressed as a muse a l'antique, sits on a ruined column, her eyes averted to the sky.