Portrait of Count Jean-Antoine Chaptal (1824): Art, History and Details

Portrait of Count Jean-Antoine Chaptal (1824) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Antoine-Jean Gros (French, 1771–1835).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Count Chaptal (1756-1832) played a major role in the development of industry after the French Revolution. He adapted scientific discoveries to public works projects, and as interior minister, he reformed transportation, public health, and vocational training in France. The portrait extols his career, marked by stacked filing boxes in the background, as well as the honors he wears, from the silk sash of the scientific Order of Saint Michel to the Legion of Honor medal pinned over his heart.

Object facts

• Title: Portrait of Count Jean-Antoine Chaptal
• Date: 1824
• Creator attribution: Antoine-Jean Gros (French, 1771–1835)
• Culture: France, 19th century
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: Framed: 183.5 x 151.1 x 16.5 cm (72 1/4 x 59 1/2 x 6 1/2 in.); Unframed: 136.5 x 114.3 cm (53 3/4 x 45 in.)
• Collection: Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960
• Department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1964.54

Collection credit

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Francis, Henry S. “Two Portraits by Aved and Gros.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 51, no. 8 (October 1964): 196–205.
• “Year in Review for 1964.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 51, no. 10 (December 1964): 236–266.
• “Annual Report for 1964.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 52, no. 6 (June 1965): 141–166.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.