Henri IV’s Bedchamber at the Château de La Roche-Guyon
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.The interior depicted in this sketch appealed to artists and writers of the Romantic generation for its historical decor and connection to the popular French monarch Henri IV (r. 1589–1610). Bonington produced this sketch as a study for a painting, now lost, in which the king gazes contemplatively toward the window that provides the room's soft lighting. Passages such as the strokes of red paint whose brushmarks describe folds in the royal bed’s curtains epitomize Bonington’s virtuosic technique, which was admired by his close friend Delacroix.
Artwork Details
- Title: Henri IV’s Bedchamber at the Château de La Roche-Guyon
- Artist: Richard Parkes Bonington (British, Arnold, Nottinghamshire 1802–1828 London)
- Date: ca. 1825
- Medium: Oil on millboard
- Dimensions: 9 × 14 in. (22.9 × 35.6 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Private collection
- Object Number: L.2025.7
- Curatorial Department: European Paintings