1789 -1863 · Paris, Rome, Versailles and history painting

Battles, horses, portraits and stories of power make Horace Vernet the great painter-reporter of military France under the Empire, the Restoration and the July Monarchy.

Émile Jean-Horace Vernet was born at the Louvre in 1789, a few weeks before the French Revolution. He belongs to an exceptional dynasty: his father Carle Vernet paints horses and battles, his grandfather Joseph Vernet is famous for his marines. Trained very early in this environment, Horace drew with a speed that became one of his distinctive signs. After failing at the Prix de Rome in 1809, he worked for the Bonaparte family, illustrated imperial campaigns and practiced lithography. In 1814, he worked for the Bonaparte family, illustrated the imperial campaigns and practiced lithography. After a failure at the Prix de Rome in 1809, he worked for the Bonaparte family, illustrated the imperial campaigns and practiced lithography. In 1814, he participated in the defense of Paris against the Allied armies; In 1814, he participated in the defense of Paris against the Allied armies; In 1814, he participated in the defense of Paris against the Allied armies; In 1814, he participated in the defense of Paris against the Allied armies; In 1814, he participated in the defense of Paris against the Allied armies; In 1814, he marshal Moncey. In the 1820s, Vernet frequented the romantic world and painted horses, orientalism and contemporary actions with an immediately readable narration. Director of the French Academy in Rome from 1829 to 1834, he also produced scenes from art history such as Raphael at the Vatican and Julius II ordering the work of Saint-Pierre. Under Louis-Philippe, his former protector who became king, Vernet received immense commissions for the Historical Galleries of Versailles. Under Louis-Philippe, his former protector who became king, Vernet received immense commissions for the Historical Galleries of Versailles. There he built a national story centered on military victories. The Capture of the Smalah by Abd el-Kader, a vast panorama of the conquest of Algeria, transformed the assault of 1843 into an abundant spectacle. Today, this virtuosity must be viewed with the context of colonial propaganda which organizes the point of view, heroizes the French army and reduces the populations attacked to defeat or exoticism. Vernet himself travels to Algeria and the Middle East, looking for costumes, landscapes and documentary details, but puts them at the service of an official story. A fast portraitist and international artist, he worked for several sovereigns. He died in Paris in 1863, after having embodied during his lifetime the model of the national painter, admired for his energy as much as discussed for the political use of history. The "Horace Vernet" selection notably compares The Capture of the smalah by Abd el-Kader and La Barrière by Clichy. His reading favors color.

Vernet paints history as a witness placed at the heart of the action; this spectacular efficiency also requires looking at who controls the story, who triumphs in it and who does not have the floor.