Conformation and the Parade Ring · At the Rail
The 1821 Race at Epsom
Théodore Géricault, 1821 · oil on canvas
What it is
Four racehorses fly across the turf with their legs flung out front and back, under a dark storm sky, in Théodore Géricault’s oil of 1821, now in the Louvre.
Why it matters
Géricault painted the English race in 1821; the flying gallop he gave the horses is the one photography later showed no horse ever makes.
What to notice
No hoof touches the ground, and the grass is barely marked beneath them.
Speed the way the eye wanted it.
Provenance
- Maker
- Théodore Géricault, 1821
- Era
- The Georgian Turf (1750–1837)
- Chapter
- The Yard Wakes
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Made
- 1821
- Source
- Musée du Louvre, Paris · via Wikimedia Commons · MI 708
Rights: CLEAR. Public domain — U.S. 95-year rule (published 1930 or earlier). Gated by the work’s own year of publication. Cleared by registry on 2026-11-01. Wikimedia Commons licence tag, read 2026-11-01: PD-Art|PD-old-auto-expired|deathyear=1824 ; PD-Art|PD-old-70. The maker died in 1824.
Format
The full-resolution, color-managed file — restored honestly, yours to print and keep.
Sized to protect print quality — this scan supports sizes up to 40x60" cleanly.
Size
$29.00
More from the Stable Wall
Elsewhere in the family
- The Links — the other morning religion.
- Painted Lineage — the bloodline, beside the family line.
- Painted Earth — home ground as a period map.