Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier

1815–1891 · Realism

Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier was a French academic painter and sculptor. He became famous for his depictions of Napoleon and his military sieges and manoeuvres in paintings acclaimed both for the artist's mastery of fine detail and his assiduous craftsmanship. The English art critic John Ruskin examined his work at length under a magnifying glass, "marvelling at Meissonier's manual dexterity and eye for fascinating minutiae." Meissonier enjoyed great success in his lifetime, becoming, with Gérôme and Cabanel, one of "the three most successful artists of the Second Empire."

36 paintings

• Studien eines Schimmels (1864)
• A Painter (1855)
• On a Terrace (1867)
• Bridge at Poissy (Pêcheurs à ligne) (1881)
• Bachelier, cheval de l'artiste (1871)
• The Musician (1859)
• Jules Pelletier (1867)
• Man Reading (1851)
• The Sentry (La Vedette) (1890)
• Innocents and Card Sharpers (1861)
• The Standard Bearer (1857)
• En attendant l'audience (1860)
• Le Vin du curé (1860)
• Le général Championnet au bord de la mer (1869)
• 1805, Cuirassiers Before the Charge (1875)
• 1814 (1862)
• The End of the Game of Cards (1865)
• The Jovial Trooper (1865)
• The Card Players (1863)
• Soldier Playing the Theorbo (1865)
• The Out-Post (1880)
• The Defense of Paris (1870)
• Study of a Seated Cavalier Reading (1870)
• Cavalry Man
• Horse’s Head (study)
• A Guard (1849)
• Man in a Red Cloak (1867)
• Information (General Desaix and the Peasant) (1867)
• Les Ordonnances (1869)
• ruines des Tuileries (1871)
• The Barricade, rue de la Mortellerie, June 1848 (1850)
• The Card Players (1863)
• Soldier Playing the Theorbo (1865)
• 1814, La Campagne de France (1862)
• Petit poste de Grand'Garde, 8e Hussards en 1803 (1869)
• Josefa Manzanedo e Intentas de Mitjans, Second Marchioness of Manzanedo (1872)