GIRODET-TRIOSON Another of
David’s students,Anne-Louis Girodet-
Trioson(1767–1824), also produced
paintings that conjured images of ex-
otic locales and cultures. He moved fur-
ther into the domain of Romanticism
with Burial of Atala (FIG. 30-6), based
on The Genius of Christianity,a novel
by French writer François René de Cha-
teaubriand (1768–1848). The section of
the novel dealing with Atala appeared as
an excerpt a year before the publication
of the entire book in 1802. Both the ex-
cerpt and the novel were enormously
successful, and as a result, Atala became
almost a cult figure. The exoticism and
eroticism integral to the narrative ac-
counted in large part for the public’s interest in The Genius of Chris-
tianity.Set in Louisiana, Chateaubriand’s work focuses on two young
Native Americans, Atala and Chactas. The two, from different tribes,
fall in love and run away together through the wilderness. Erotic pas-
sion permeates the story, and Atala, sworn to lifelong virginity, finally
commits suicide rather than break her oath. Girodet’s painting de-
picts this tragedy. Atala’s grief-stricken lover, Chactas, buries the hero-
ine in the shadow of a cross. Assisting in the burial is a cloaked priest,
whose presence is appropriate given Chateaubriand’s emphasis on
the revival of Christianity (and the
Christianization of the New World) in
his novel. Like Gros’s depiction of the
foreign Muslim world, Girodet’s repre-
sentation of American Indian lovers in
the Louisiana wilderness appealed to
the public’s fascination (whetted by the
Louisiana Purchase in 1803) with what
it perceived as the passion and primi-
tivism of Native American tribal life.
Burial of Atala speaks here to emotions,rather than inviting philosophical meditation or revealing some
grand order of nature and form. Unlike David’s appeal in Oath of the
Horatii (FIG. 29-23) to feelings that manifest themselves in public ac-
tion, the appeal here is to the viewer’s private world of fantasy and
emotion.INGRES Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres(1780–1867) arrived
at David’s studio in the late 1790s after Girodet-Trioson had left to
establish an independent career. Ingres’s study there was to be short-30-6Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson,
Burial of Atala,1808. Oil on canvas,
6 11 8 9 . Louvre, Paris.
Girodet’s depiction of Native American
lovers in the Louisiana wilderness ap-
pealed to the French public’s fascination
with what it perceived as the passion and
primitivism of tribal life in the New World.30-7Jean-Auguste-Dominique
Ingres,Apotheosis of Homer,1827. Oil on
canvas, 12 8 16 103 – 4 . Louvre, Paris.
Inspired by School of Athens(FIG. 22-9)
by Ingres’s favorite painter, Raphael, this
monumental canvas is a Neoclassical
celebration of Homer and other ancient
worthies, Dante, and select French
authors.1 ft.1 ft.782 Chapter 30 EUROPE AND AMERICA, 1800 TO 187030-6A
GIRODET-TRIOSON,
Jean-Baptiste
Belley, 1797.