Not surprisingly, the Louvre has the greatest collection of French painting in the world, displayed on the upper floors of the Richelieu and Sully wings of the museum.

The French Revolution of 1789 ushered in a period of political and social turmoil that also had a great impact on the arts. The famous masterpieces of the Revolutionary period, that continued past Napoleon to 1848, are today housed in the Great Galleries of French Painting of the Denon Wing of the Louvre which we examined last September. Smaller and medium-sized works are in the upper floors of the Sully wing and include iconic works by Ingres (the “Valpinçon Bather”, “Portrait of M. Bertin”) Delacroix (the 1837 “Self-Portrait”, the “Jewish Wedding in Morocco”) as well as masterpieces by David, Gérard, Prudhon, Boilly, and the stars of the Romantic School, Géricault and Chassériau.