GÉRARD, Étienne Maurice, Count (1773—1852), a distinguished French general. was born at Damvilliers in the department of Mense, 4th April 1773. He joined the second battalion of the )leuse in 1791. and served in the campaigns of 1792—1793 under Generals 1)umouriez and Jourdan. In 1798 he accompanied Bernadotte as aide-de- I camp in his embassy to Vienna. In 1799 he was named I chief of a squadron, and in 1800 colonel. He distinguished I himself by a brilliant; charge against the llussian imperial I guard at the battle of Austerlitz, and being raised to the rank of general in November 1806, played a prominent part in the battles of Halle, Jena, and Erfurt 3 and for his ' conduct in the battle of Wagram, where he greatly con- tributed to the victory, he was created a baron. In the Spanish campaign of 1810 and 1811 he gained special distinction at the battle of Fuentes-de—Onoro 5 and in the subsequent expedition to Russia he was present at the capture of Smolensk, had a principal share in the victory of Walontina-Gora, displayed such bravery and ability in the battle of the Moskova that he was made general of division, and by his coolness and energy in the disastrous retreat from Moscow saved the rearguard of the French army at the passage of the Wilna. In the campaign of 1813, in command of a division under Macdonald, he took part in the battles of Liitzen, Bautzen, Goldberg, and Leipsic, where he was dangerously wounded. After the battle of Bautzen he was created by Napoleon a count of the empire. In the campaign of France of 181-1, in command of the army -of reserves composed chiefly of recruits, he by his skilful manoeuvres powerfully assisted in securing the victories of Nogent, Nangis, and Montereau-sur-Yonne. After the first restoration he was named by Louis XVIII. grand cross of the legion of honour and Chevalier of St Louis. On the return of Napoleon from Elba he was entrusted with the command of the army of the Moselle, and took part in the battle of Ligny. On the morning of the battle of Waterloo, being under the orders of Grouchy, who was marching towards \Vavre, he strongly urged him to proceed in the direction whence they heard cannon firing, but his advice was not followed. Gerard retired to Brussels after the fall of Napoleon, and did not return to France till 1817. He was chosen a member of the chamber of deputies in 1822, and was re-elected in 1823 and 1827. He took part in the revolution of 1830, after which he was appointed minister of war and named a marshal of France. On account of his health he resigned the office of war minister in the October following, but in 1831 he took the command of the northern army, and was successful in thirteen days in driving the army of Holland out of Belgium. In 1832 he compelled the surrender of Antwerp, and in the same year he was raised to the peerage of France. He was again chosen war minister in July 1831, and again resigned that office in the October following. In 1835 he was named grand chancellor of the legion of honour, and in 1838 commander-general of the national guards of the Seine, an office which he held till 1842. He became a senator under the empire in 1852, and died in April of the same year.
GÉRARD, François, Baron (1770–1837), was born on May 4, 1770, at Rome, where his father occupied a post in the house of the French ambassador. At the age of twelve Gerard left Rome with his family for Paris, and there obtained admission into the Pension du Itoi. From the Pension he passed to the studio of Pajou (sculptor), which he left at the end of two years for that of the painter Brenet, whom he quitted almost immediately to place him- self under David. In 1789 Gérard competed for the Prix de Rome, which was carried off by his comrade Girodet. In the following year (1790) he again presented himself, but the death of his father prevented the completion of his work, and obliged him to accompany his mother to ltome. In 1791 he returned to Paris ; but his poverty was so great that he was forced to forego his studies in favour of employ- ment which should bring in immediate profit. David at once availed himself of his help, and one of that master's most celebrated portraits—Le l"elleticr do St Fargeau—is due to the hand of “le petit Gorard.” This portrait was executed early in 1793, the year in which Gerard, at the request of David, was named a member of the revolutionary tribunal, from the fatal decisions of which he, however, invariably absented himself. In 1791 he obtained the first prize in a competition, the subject of which was “ The Tenth of August,” and, further stimulated by the successes of his rival and friend Girodet in the Salons of 1793 and 1794, Gerard (nony aided by Isabey the miniaturist) produced in 1795 his famous “Belisaire.” In 1796 a portrait ofhis generous friend (Louvre) obtained undisputed success, and the money received from Isabey for these two works on- abled Gerard to execute in 1797 his “ Psyche ct l’Amour." At last, in 1799, his portrait of Madame Bonaparte estab- lished his position as one of the first portrait painters of the day. In 1808 as many as eight, in 1810 no less than fourteen portraits by him, were exhibited at the Salon, and these figures afford only an indication of the enormous numbers which he executed yearly; all the leading figures of the empire and of the restoration, all the most celebrated men and women of Europe, sat to Gerard. This extraordi- nary vogue was due partly to the charm of his manner and conversation, for his salon was as much frequented as his studio; Madame de Stacl, Canning, Talleyrand, the duke of Wellington, have all borne witness to the attraction of his society. Rich and famous, Gérard was stung by remorse for earlier ambitions abandoned ; at intervals he had indeed striven to prove his strength with Girodet and other rivals, and his “Bataille d’Austerlitz” (1810) showed a breadth of invention and style which are even more conspicuous in “L’Entrée d'Henri IV.” (Yersailles),——the work with which in 1817 he did homage to the Bourbons. After this date Gérard declined, watching with impotent grief the progress of the Romantic school. Loaded with honours—baron of the empire, member of the Institute, oflicer of the legion of honour, first painter to the king—he worked on sad and discouraged; the revolution of 1830 added to his disquiet; and in 1837 on 11th January, after three days of fever, he died. By his portraits Gérard is best remembered; the colour of his paintings has suffered, but his drawings show in uninjured delicacy the purity of his line; and those of women are specially remarkable for a virginal simplicity and frankness of expression.
M. (‘11. Lenormant published in 1846 Essai (lo Biograplu'r (I (I Critique sur Frcmcois Gerard, a second cdition of which appeared in 1847; and M. Dclécluze devoted several pages to the same snlject in his work Louis David, son écolc cl son temps.
caricaturist generally known by the pseudonym .of Grand- ville—the professional name of his grandparents, who were actors—was born at Nancy, 13th September 1803 He received his first instruction in drawing from his father, a miniature painter, and at the age of twenty—one came to Paris, where he soon afterwards published a collection of lithographs entitled Les tribulations de la petite [now-{£16. He followed this by Les pluisirs de (out (25/6, and Lu si/ryllc cles salons; but the work which first established his fame was Jllétammwltoses clu jour, published in 1828, a series of 70 scenes in which individuals with the bodies of men and faces of animals are made to play a human comedy. These drawings are remarkable for the extraordinary skill with which human characteristics are represented in animal features, but they are liable to the objection of attempting to express by the pencil what can be properly done only by
the pen ; while at the same time, in conquering difliculties