Napoleon III at the Battle of Solferino, 24 June, 1859
Compiègne, musée du Second Empire
At the beginning of the Second Empire, Meissonier was known only for his Dutch pastiche genre scenes. When the emperor bought a painting from him in order to offer it to Queen Victoria in 1855, however, Meissonier’s career was made. He then became attached to the Imperial staff in Italy in 1859 and he followed all the operations surrounding Magenta and Solferino. It was at that point that he launched himself into history painting. This Napoleon III at Solferino is the fruit of a very painstaking approach. Known as «the genius of the infinitely small», Meissonier also spent a great deal of time preparing for his pictures. He went back to the battlefield after the battle and spent a year doing portraits of the soldiers in the imperial escort. It was not until the Salon of 1864 that he finally exhibited the work. It is of almost photographic accuracy and it appears to ignore the battle completely, concentrating on the emperor who is watching the combat «like a chess player coolly studying the board».