Full title | The Battle of Hanau |
---|---|
Artist | Emile-Jean-Horace Vernet |
Artist dates | 1789 - 1863 |
Series | Four Battle Scenes |
Date made | 1824 |
Medium and support | Oil on canvas |
Dimensions | 174 x 289.8 cm |
Inscription summary | Signed; Dated |
Acquisition credit | Bequeathed by Sir John Murray Scott, 1914 |
Inventory number | NG2966 |
Location | Gallery A: Paintings after 1600 |
Collection | Main Collection |
Following his defeat at the Battle of Leipzig on 19 October 1813, Napoleon was forced to withdraw west of the Rhine and retreat to France. As the French withdrew, they met a force of Austro-Bavarian troops, under the command of Karl Philipp von Wrede, on 30 October at the town of Hanau, near Frankfurt. Despite their previous heavy losses, the French, under the personal command of Napoleon, pushed back Wrede’s troops and captured Hanau, which gave them eventual access to France. The Battle of Hanau was one of Napoleon’s final victories before France was invaded.
This painting is the third in a group of four battle scenes commissioned from Vernet by the duc d'Orléans. Although the duke did not fight at Hanau, he benefited politically from references to Napoleon and the memory of imperial victory. As in the other pictures in the group, a panoramic view is combined with detailed scenes of dramatic action.
On 19 October 1813 the Emperor Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Leipzig, which was his first decisive military defeat. Lasting three days, the battle was also one of the bloodiest of the Napoleonic Wars and the French army suffered huge casualities. Forced to withdraw west of the Rhine, Napoleon planned to retreat to France. As the French withdrew, they met a force of Austro-Bavarian troops, under the command of Karl Philipp von Wrede, on 30 October at the town of Hanau, near Frankfurt. Wrede’s aim was to block Napoleon’s line of retreat. Despite their previous heavy losses and having less than half the men and cannons available to Wrede, the French, under the personal command of Napoleon, pushed back Wrede’s troops and captured Hanau. This victory gave them access to the main road to Frankfurt, where they arrived on 31 October, just 20 miles from the safety of their rear base at Mainz. The battle was one of Napoleon’s final victories before the invasion of France.
This painting is the third one in the group of four battle scenes that Vernet painted for the duc d'Orléans and for which he was paid 10,000 francs. Although the duke did not fight at Hanau, he benefited politically from references to Napoleon and memories of imperial victory. In the picture we see French grenadiers of the Grand Battery, wearing blue uniforms, defend their artillery against a charge by Bavarian cavalry, who are wearing white. The Grand Battery is under the command of General Antoine Drouot, who stands beside a firing canon, to the right of the painting, as a mounted Austrian cavalryman tries to strike him down. On the left, the French Guard cavalry are counter charging. They are led by General Nansouty, who is shown centre-left seated on a chestnut horse with his back towards us.
As in the other pictures in the group, Vernet gives us a panoramic view full of activity that also shows how the battle was fought. He places us on the edge of the forest as Drouot moves his cannons towards the open plain to rebuff the advancing Bavarian troops. Alternating bands of light and shadow lead our eye across the landscape towards the river Kinsig in the distance, which is crossed by a stone bridge. Behind the river, are the bell towers of Hanau. Vernet makes the action of the battle itself more accessible by focusing on individual scenes or episodes in the foreground, each filled with drama and sharp incidental detail – for example, if you look closely, you can see where he has shown the trajectory of a cannon ball as it has clipped some trees on the right. Trees frame the central vista, which contains the action. Smoke that merges with the clouds reinforces this framing effect.
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Four Battle Scenes
Following the military defeat and abdication of Napoleon in 1815, the Bourbon monarchy was restored in France. These four large battle paintings were commissioned by the duc d'Orléans (1733–1850) who had returned to France after some 21 years in exile. In 1830 he became Louis-Philippe, King of the French.
Although painted during the period of the Bourbon Restoration, all four pictures – for which Vernet was paid 38,000 francs – show French victories during the previous era of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. The duke had fought with the armies of the newly established French Republic at Jemappes and at Valmy, and was keen to demonstrate his Republican sympathies. The pictures were hung in prominent positions in the Palais-Royal in Paris and functioned as propaganda celebrating French military glory and the Duke’s own career and leadership. Completed over five years, the paintings are The Battle of Jemappes (1821), The Battle of Montmirail (1822), The Battle of Hanau (1824), and The Battle of Valmy (1826). Damaged by fire in the revolution of 1848, they were restored by Vernet himself.
Following the final military defeat and abdication of the Emperor Napoleon in 1815, the Bourbon monarchy was restored in France. These four large battle paintings were commissioned from Vernet by the duc d‘Orléans (1733–1850), who had returned to France after some 21 years in exile. In 1830 he became Louis-Philippe, King of the French. Although painted during the period of the Bourbon Restoration, the four pictures – for which the artist was paid 38,000 francs – show French victories during the previous era of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars.
Born in 1789, the year of the French Revolution, Vernet had helped defend Paris from enemy troops, for which he was awarded the Légion d’Honneur by Napoleon. He was highly regarded by Louis-Philippe, who called him by his first name, ’Monsieur Horace‘. The duke became his sponsor and, in addition to commissioning paintings, assisted Vernet’s election to the Academy in 1826 and his appointment as Director of the French Academy in Rome in 1828. This support for Vernet continued after Louis-Philippe was proclaimed king in 1830 after his cousin Charles X was forced to abdicate by the July Revolution.
During his early career, while Napoleon was still in power, Vernet had shown his skill in depicting soldiers and scenes of combat in a vivid and authentic manner that rejected the idealisation of classicism. In 1819 the duke commissioned him to paint several portraits commemorating his exile in Switzerland and two paintings that showed his military action as a young man. The duke had fought with the armies of the newly established French Republic at Jemappes (6 November 1792) and at Valmy (20 September 1792), two important battles of the French Revolutionary wars, and was also keen to demonstrate his Republican sympathies. Vernet himself proposed pictures of two additional battles, Hanau (30–31 October 1813) and Montmirail (11 February 1814), as he wished to celebrate the first military victories of the Revolution alongside the final victories of the Empire.
Vernet uses a similar format in all four paintings with each showing an almost aerial view of a panoramic landscape that allows him to fill the pictures with highly detailed individual scenes of dramatic action. This method of composition also introduced a new way of depicting combat. Rather than focus on the heroic actions of a single, almost superhuman, individual (such as Napoleon) or on high-ranking commanders, Vernet spreads the action across the painting as the entire army, acting as a collective group, becomes the principal agent. A victorious leader’s victory in battle is also dependent upon those he leads. Everyone’s uniforms, weapons, gestures and facial expressions, rather than those of just a select few, are painted in great detail, as are the landscapes and buildings.
When exhibited, the paintings proved extremely popular and helped Vernet acquire the status of ’national painter'. All four were hung in prominent positions in the Palais-Royal in Paris, where they functioned as propaganda celebrating French military glory and the duke’s career and leadership. When he was King, Louis-Philippe also had copies made for Versailles, where two still hang.
Vernet’s paintings were badly damaged by fire during the revolution of 1848, when the Palais-Royal was ransacked. Acquired by Lord Hertford in 1851 in a sale after Louis-Philippe’s death in 1850, they were restored by Vernet himself and are displayed in nineteenth-century frames.




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