Coriolanus Taking Leave of his Family

Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson created Coriolanus Taking Leave of his Family in 1786 as his submission for the Prix de Rome competition. Although the painting was the sole surviving entry from that year's finalists, the prize was not awarded to any competitor. An original label on the stretcher confirms the date and the competition's outcome.

The work likely passed to chemist Antoine Laurent Lavoisier and his wife, Marie Anne Pierrette Paulze Lavoisier, before being seized by the French state in 1794 and returned to Mme Lavoisier in 1796. Following its time in a private French collection during the early 20th century, the canvas was sold at Christie's in New York on October 29, 2019, before being acquired by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

The painting is held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., having been purchased by the institution in 2019. Its documented provenance traces back to its creation as Girodet's entry in the 1786 Prix de Rome competition, in which it was the only finalist's work to survive; the prize was not awarded that year. The canvas bears an 18th-century inscription on the original stretcher recording those facts, along with a red wax seal of the French Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture.

The work was possibly given by the artist to Antoine Laurent Lavoisier and his wife Marie Anne Pierrette Paulze Lavoisier, Paris; it was seized by the French state in 1794 and returned to Mme Lavoisier in 1796. It subsequently entered a private collection in France by at least the early 20th century, before being sold at Christie's, Manson & Woods in New York on 29 October 2019 (lot 749) and acquired by the NGA.

Coriolanus Taking Leave of his Family was painted in 1786 by the eighteen‑year‑old Anne‑Louis Girodet as his entry for the Prix de Rome competition; it is the sole surviving work from that year’s contest, for which no prize was awarded. Although unsuccessful then, Girodet, a student of Jacques‑Louis David, won the Prix de Rome in 1789 and lived in Rome until 1793, a period that saw his early neoclassical style begin to absorb romantic elements. The painting thus illustrates Girodet’s transition from strict neoclassicism toward the emerging romantic sensibility that would define his later career. Today it resides in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, acquired in 2019.

Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson created this oil on canvas, Coriolanus Taking Leave of his Family, in 1786. This history painting portrays a poignant moment from ancient Roman legend, as the exiled general Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus bids farewell to his sorrowful family. The work reflects the artist's early engagement with classical narratives and emotional depth, characteristic of the period's academic traditions.