How does this artwork elucidate its Purpose?
While the exact purpose of each of these portraits remains unknown, there has been some speculation among scholars.  Some side with Viardot and assert that the paintings were meant to serve as documents in Georget's clinical studies.  Supporting this claim, Lorenz Eitner notes that "Dr. Georget believed in the symptomatic significance of facial and bodily appearance in the diagnosis of mental disorders” and "in documenting particular cases, it was important to render the physiognomy of the patient with strict objectivity."Similarly, some commentators suggest that these portraits "were perhaps trying to fulfill the role that photography would take in the medical and legal fields shortly thereafter: that of proof and possibly as a basis for diagnosis.": 16   Others, however, note how Géricault was unique in the sense that he incorporated pathos into his portraits.: 222   This contradicts the idea that their purpose was primarily scientific.: 223 Finally, some scholars highlight Gericault's own battle with mental health when addressing the purposes of these portraits.  Upon his return to Paris in 1821, there are reports that his health began to deteriorate. The spinal injury that he suffered the following year compounded the problem.: 19  Thus, some speculate that the portraits "speak to [Géricault’s] fragile mental health,": 221  arguing that "in the disfigured and insane he finds something of himself, something that is not only, but also, the painter’s alter ego.": 176
Lorenz Eitner