A General Officer

Meissonier, Jean-Louis-Ernest 1815 - 1891

Summary

This General Officer in the army of Napoleon III is depicted in profile to show off his splendid military hat to its best advantage. The subject stands in an upright pose, his hands behind his back, dressed in white breeches and a blue jacket with gold epaulettes. Meissonier specialised in meticulous, small-scale military scenes and interiors, based on the style of seventeenth-century Dutch genre and still life painting. His work was greatly admired in his lifetime by both the public and the critics.