The admirable painter of Endymion's Sleep, Atala's Death and Chateaubriand's Portrait was also a poet. Trained in classical humanities in his youth, he was the author of free translations of ancient Greek (Alceo, Sappho...) and Latin poets (Catullus, Claudian, Martial). In 1808 he undertook the imitation and illustration of Anacreon's Odes, which was published posthumously. The Musée du Louvre has preserved the precious manuscript of the first stage of this intense and abundant work, in which poetic research and the invention of images - compositions or vignettes - are intertwined with the text.
Only a facsimile could restore this organic whole in its integrity. The accompanying study traces the history of the manuscript, the various stages of the publishing project and the posthumous versions, and analyses the artist's aesthetic sources. Girodet's handwriting is sometimes difficult to decipher, but the full transcription attached to the study allows the reader to appreciate all its subtleties and to rediscover the charm of anacreontic poetry.
French language
2 volumes in slipcase. Facsimile booklet: 68 pages, bound, 64 colour plates. Booklet: 128 pages, paperback, 90 illustrations
Coédition musée du Louvre éditions/ Officina Libraria
Collection Carnets et albums. Dessins du musée du Louvre N°7
