ABSTRACT
Indeed, Géricault’s slave woman is stripped of all defenses. Although set amongst a large number of men whose upper frames are nude (otherwise they wear britches), she stands fully exposed, naked and impotent but for a cap to her chin … tropes that carry meaning in relation to the slave trade, la traite. Géricault was well aware of this cold calculus and unpacked its visceral horrors in his École drawing. The young woman addresses with unclouded gaze in a clear untainted voice, one that sets Géricault’s own voice apart from his peers and renders it all but anomalous for the 1820s. Her candor is palpable and if indeed at a later point in time her presence might have donned Géricault’s intended canvas of the slave market, her demeanor, calm and ingratiating, would have a highlighted la traite’s offenses, accenting Géricault’s empathy for the abuses behind his grand canvas.
