# An Officer of the Chasseurs Commanding a Charge [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [GÉRICAULT, Théodore]() - Date: 1801-1850 - Technique: Oil on canvas, 349 x 266 cm ## Commentary This was Géricault's first major work. The rider is turned round so far from the waist that the forward movement of the charging horse is exactly the opposite of the rider's gaze. The curving sabre underlines the turn of the body. The whole painting makes an immediate and spontaneous impression, with all its elements forming one dramatic whole. The painting was commissioned by an officer who wanted to be represented in uniform, and Géricault created the supreme image of the wildly charging fighter. He won a medal for the painting in the Salon of 1812. <P> <TABLE ALIGN=LEFT CELLPADDING=5 BORDER=1 WIDTH=320 BGCOLOR="\#99CCCC"> <TR VALIGN=MIDDLE><TD><IMG SRC="/support/gif/listen.gif" BORDER=0 VALIGN=MIDDLE> Suggested listening \(streaming mp3, 12 minutes\):<BR><A HREF="\#" onClick="w=window.open \('/music1/17\_cent/biber\_battle.html', 'newWin', 'scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=350,height=350'\);w.opener=this;w.focus\(\);return true"><B>Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber: The Battle, suite</B></A> </TD></TR></TABLE> ## Related artworks - [A Carabinier with his Horse]() - [A Charge of Cuirassiers]() - [A Madwoman and Compulsive Gambler]() - [A Turk \(Mustapha\)]() - [English Horse in Stable]() - [Grey Horse Called L'Aly]() - [Heroic Landscape with Fishermen]() - [Horse Market: Five Horses at the Stake]() - [Man with Delusions of Military Command]() - [Nymph and Satyr \(Jupiter and Antiope\)]() - [Portrait of a Kleptomaniac]() - [Portrait of a Man]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()