Géricault : images of life and death / edited by Gregor Wedekind and Max Hollein.

This beautifully illustrated volume presents French Romantic painter Theodore Gericault in a fascinating new light: through his works that addressed the physical and psychological torments of modern life. The book presents hundreds of images of Gericault's paintings, in stunning full-color reproductions, to show how his emphasis on the suffering inherent in modern existence represented a completely new way of depicting life. Marrying the Romantics' fascination with horror and the unsentimental perspective of science, with his images of madness and death Gericault played a key role in the deliberate visualization of the modern, existentially isolated individual. When viewed this way - and placed in context with his contemporaries, such as Goya, Fuseli, and Adolph Menzel - Gericault's work upends the traditional opposition of realism and Romanticism, allowing us instead to see them as interrelated, sharing approaches and areas of interest. Four essays by scholars steeped in Gericault and his period round out the volume, which will be essential for fans of the Romantic tradition.