| (...) Not far from these paintings of the first age of humanity, we enter the beautiful domain of pure sciences, ancient and current sciences combined. Girieud painted a radiant astronomy, in a vast whole, he represented the signs of the Zodiac by the months of the revolutionary year. The idea is happy, because not only Pluviôse, Ventôse, Nivôse and Germinal correspond better than the other months to astronomical realities, but they also have a greater poetic beauty. Above the signs are fixed figures, each more harmonious than the other. In the center we see the night, the day and the planets; in a hemicycle, the sun is reflected in the waves. It is a noble evocation of the great actions of nature. Fructidor is holding a basket, Thermidor is about to take a bath. Pluviôse knocks over a jug.
We find in this work the best Girieud. His art marks a return to discipline under the great Italian umbrella. (....) |