Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Riderless Racers at Rome
(18th and 19th Centuries )
From the mid-15th century until 1882, spring carnival in Rome closed with a horse race. Fifteen to 20 riderless horses, originally imported from the Barbary Coast of North Africa, ran the length of the Via del Corso, a long, straight city street, in about 2½ minutes.
Throughout his career, Géricault lovingly depicted the horse as a metaphor for unfettered emotion and power. The artist initially planned to paint a canvas of this subject more than 30 feet in width; he completed 20 small oil studies before abandoning the project. In other variations on this theme, Géricault set the race in ancient, rather than contemporary, Rome.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Géricault Estate Sale, Paris, November 2-3, 1824, no. 81; Sale, A. M. Couvreur, Paris; Sale, E. Secrétan, Paris, July 1, 1889, no. 35; H. O. Havemeyer, 1889 [mode of acquisition unknown]; H. S. Henry, New York, 1899, by purchase [Durand- Ruel, as agent]; H. S. Henry Sale, New York, January 25, 1907, no. 21; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1907, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 2024-2025 | Reinstallation 2024: Art and Process. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. |
| 2012 | Public Property. |
| 2000-2002 | Triumph of French Painting: Masterpieces from Ingres to Matisse. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore; Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa; Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach; Dayton Art Institute, Dayton; Royal Academy of Arts, London; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo. |
| 1998-2001 | Highlights from the Collection. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
| 1999-2000 | Vive la France! French Treasures from the Middle Ages to Monet. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
| 1996 | Millet and Barbizon Art. Matsumoto City Museum, Matsumoto City; Tokuyama City Museum of Art and History, Tokuyama; Kasama Nichido Museum, Kasama City; Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art, Kanazawa. |
| 1991-1992 | Géricault. Musée du Louvre, Paris. |
| 1984 | The Taste of Maryland: Art Collecting in Maryland 1800-1934. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
| 1954 | Inaugural Exhibition at the Fort Worth Art Center. Fort Worth Art Center, Fort Worth. |
| 1951 | From Ingres to Gauguin: French Nineteenth Century Paintings Owned in Maryland. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore. |
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 8/22/1951 | Treatment | coated; surface cleaned; varnish removed or reduced |
| 1/8/1958 | Treatment | coated; lined; other |
| 1/8/1958 | Treatment | lined; other |
| 5/28/1965 | Treatment | mounted; tears repaired |
| 1/1/1988 | Loan Consideration | examined for loan |
| 8/24/1992 | Loan Consideration | examined for loan |
| 3/19/1999 | Examination | examined for loan |
| 8/4/2000 | Examination | examined for loan |
Geographies
France (Rouen) (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 17 11/16 x W: 23 7/16 in. (44.9 x 59.5 cm); Framed H: 32 1/2 x W: 38 1/2 x D: 5 in. (82.6 x 97.8 x 12.7 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1907
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.189