But his
fame is not dependent upon his revolt against the Institute, his
influence upon his successors, or his incarnation of an aesthetic
movement. It rests on his individual accomplishment, his personal value,
the abiding interest of his pictures. "The Raft of the Medusa" will
remain an admirable and moving creation, a masterpiece of dramatic vigor
and vivid characterization, of wide and deep human interest and truly
panoramic grandeur, long after its contemporary interest and historic
importance have ceased to be thought of except by the aesthetic
antiquarian. "The Wounded Cuirassier" and the "Chasseur of the Guard"
are not documents of aesthetic history, but noble expressions of artistic
sapience and personal feeling.
What, I think, is the notable thing about both Gericault and Delacroix,
however, as exponents, as the initiators, of romanticism, is the way in
which they restrained the impetuous temperament they share within the
confines of a truly classic reserve. Closely considered, they are not
the revolutionists they seemed to the official classicism of their day.
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