Art Institute of Chicago: Girodet Romantic Rebel

A wonderfully detailed exhibition site, developed by the Art Institute of Chicago, devoted to this gifted French painter, whose work is often viewed in opposition to the prevailing neoclassical style of his time. With a career that spanned one of the most turbulent times in French history (the French Revolution, the Napoleonic era, and the restoration of the monarchy), Girodet makes an interesting choice for studying art in a historical context. The exhibition is organized according to six themes, including his early training under Jacques-Louis David, the inspiration he took from myth and literature, and his interest in the violence of nature (as seen, e.g., in his famously controversial "Scene from a Deluge").