Man Clutching a Horse in Water, after Poussin's "Deluge" (recto)

1816

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Dominant colour

Man Clutching a Horse in Water, after Poussin's "Deluge" (recto) is a 1816 by Théodore Géricault, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Théodore Géricault
When & what style?: 1816 · Romanticism
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

A man grips a horse’s mane as both fight to stay above dark, swirling water. The scene is small but feels huge—full of panic and effort. Géricault copied this moment from an older painting by Nicolas Poussin. He wasn’t just practicing; he was testing his own style, using bold outlines and broad strokes to make the drama feel immediate. If you like this, look up *chiaroscuro*—the way artists use light and shadow to create tension.

The story of this work

Overview

Géricault's drawing of a man clutching the mane of a horse as they struggle together to stay afloat is a direct copy of a detail from one of Nicolas Poussin's (1594-1665) most celebrated paintings, The Deluge, or Winter (see photo). Small in scale but monumental in feeling, the sheet exemplifies the artist's "antique manner" of drawing, which he began to develop around 1815. This style, with its heavy contour lines and broad washes, developed in tandem with Géricault's renewed interest in copying works of art from the past, such as prints after ancient sculpture and works by Raphael…

Read the full account in the museum source.