Examples of paintings that Gérôme's might have encountered in the last five decades of his career.

In the left column you will see a collection of paintings in the traditional, neoclassical style; in the right column are more radical "avant garde" works that deviate in some way from the ideals of the official art academy.     Scroll through the paintings below and notice similarities and differences. Use what you are learning about Gérôme's attitude towards art and his position within the art world to imagine what he might have liked or disliked (in some cases loathed) in each painting. Note that there are differences in the style and content among the works in each column. But, you should be able to be able to detect general patterns that would allow you to see how other works from the period fit into one category or the other. (Feel free to like or dislike any of these works, but remember to set these personal judgments aside when you go about reconstructing Gérôme's perspective on art.)