Artwork · 19th century · Théodore Géricault

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Two Draft Horses with a Sleeping Driver

Théodore Géricault1820–22Brush and brown and gray wash, over graphite29.9 × 38.2 cm

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At a glance

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Two harnessed draft horses stand side by side while their driver, wrapped in a cloak, dozes against a wall with his arms folded.
The French artist Théodore Géricault made this drawing in 1820 to 1822, brushing brown and gray washes over a pencil sketch.
The horses are carefully finished in wash, but the driver is still mostly bare pencil, so you can see exactly where the artist put his effort.

Reading the picture

4 places to look closer

Tap a number on the painting to jump to its note, or a close-up to see that spot in the whole picture.

Zoom in on the driver at the left. He has pulled his wide-brimmed hat down low, folded his arms, and let his head drop. Look closely and you will see he is made almost entirely of pencil lines. Thin strokes crisscross his legs and cloak, and only a few patches of wash have been added.
Now look at the horse's head rising in the middle. It has swung its head around to look behind, and you can just see the white of its eye. The mane flies back in a few dark strokes of the brush. The driver is asleep, but this horse seems alert to something.
Zoom in on the tail of the gray horse on the right. The hair has been tied up and folded short, with brown bands wrapped around it. On the rump, pale wash spreads in blotches to make a dappled gray coat. The hard edges left where the wash dried become the spots in the hair.
Follow the horizon to the right of the horse's head. A tiny windmill stands with its sails spread, next to a row of low buildings in dark silhouette. Above them, Géricault laid broad strokes of deep gray wash, making the sky heavy, like evening or bad weather.

When it was painted

In 1820, Géricault, about twenty-nine, crossed the Channel to England. He was bringing his huge painting The Raft of the Medusa, which had hung at the Paris Salon the year before, to show in London. It went on display at the Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly, and people paid admission to see it.

Géricault had been obsessed with horses since he was young. He trained with Carle Vernet, a painter known for horses, and he loved to ride. In London, what caught his eye were the working draft horses, the drivers, the blacksmiths, and the poor people in the streets. In 1821 he published a series of lithographs of these London street scenes.

That same year he saw the races at Epsom and painted The Derby at Epsom, with horses stretched out as if flying above the ground. Photographs that froze a galloping horse's legs would not arrive for more than half a century. The dates of this drawing, 1820 to 1822, cover his time in England and the months just after.

His life after that was short. Back in Paris, he was hurt in falls from horses and his health gave way. He died in January 1824, at thirty-two. The Metropolitan Museum bought this drawing in 1996.

Look at the driver on the left again. Géricault finished the horses with care and left the sleeping man as a web of pencil lines.

The painter

Théodore Géricault

1791–1824

All paintings by Théodore Géricault →

Two Draft Horses with a Sleeping Driver

Questions to think about

Look for itHow many straps and buckles of harness can you find on the two horses?
Why?Why do you think Géricault painted the horses more carefully than the driver?
What about you?The horses that pull heavy loads and the driver who has dropped off to sleep have both worked a long day. How much attention do we pay today to the tiredness of people who drive and deliver late into the night?

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