The Battle of Marengo by Swebach-Desfontaines (1801), Detail showing the artist’s signature

Detail: The painter's signature can be seen on the top of the building, between the two windows: “Swebach 1801”.
 
See the painting… 
 
See another detail of the painting: The First Consul giving orders… 
 
The French Revolutionary Wars enabled Swebach to practise his talent as a draughtsman very early on, sketching from life, in pencil or ink, scenes which were then reworked in wash or watercolour. The Napoleonic campaigns next offered him multiple subjects and, abandoning the military anecdote for a while, he made a little foray into historical painting by depicting battles. 
 
The Battle of Marengo kept in the collections of the Fondation Napoléon predates the painting of the Salon of 1802. This oil on panel, signed 1801, reveals the artist's full talent as he here demonstrates his fascination with Dutch painting.