Musée d’Orsay · 1846
Young Greeks Attending a Cock Fight
Jean-Léon Gérôme
Gérôme paints two young people in ancient Greek dress crouched beside a fountain, absorbed in setting two roosters against each other — a small, everyday moment from antiquity rendered with the crisp, polished precision that made this "Neo-Grec" style so popular at the time.
Why it matters
Gérôme paints two young people in ancient Greek dress crouched beside a fountain, absorbed in setting two roosters against each other — a small, everyday moment from antiquity rendered with the crisp, polished precision that made this "Neo-Grec" style so popular at the time.
Look closer
Notice the smooth, almost porcelain-like finish of the figures and the crumbling ancient Sphinx statue behind them — Gérôme contrasts youthful freshness with the weathered stone of a much older civilization.
This ambitious painting was Gérôme's breakthrough at the 1847 Salon, launching the career of an artist who would go on to become one of the most celebrated academic painters of the 19th century.
Value context
ELYIO places this work in an indicative editorial context of €4–9 million.
The museum work is not for sale. This is ELYIO indicative context—not an appraisal, insurance value or offer.