François Gérard (1770–1837), later Baron Gérard  1790

Both Gros and Gérard were favored students in the rough and tumble fraternity that was the atelier of Jacques Louis David. Intense friendships and rivalries developed there. Gros probably made this sensitive and delicate portrait in Paris before Gérard departed for study in Rome in 1790. Despite the subsequent rift in their friendship, Gérard kept his portrait for the rest...