Horace Vernet. Voyage à travers les continents.

HORACE VERNET (1789-1863) was depicted, drawn, painted, sculpted, and photo graphed throughout his life. This rich iconographic record bears witness to his long and prolific career, and to his fame. Over the course of his career, his paintings received a mixed reception: although often applauded and even highly acclaimed, they never theless remained the target of sustained criticism.
The artist enjoyed enduring success from a voung age and was showered with honours. He took care to curate his image through several self-portraits and group paintings, as well as in his corres pondence, where he was mindful of how he presented himself. Prints, lithographs and photographs meant that the painter's face was very familiar, and his features were sometimes mocked by caricaturists.
THE HEREDITARY GLORY
Vernet was the grandson of Joseph Vernet, a painter of marines in the reigan of Louis XV, and the son of Carle Vernet, a military painter during the Empire period. Some of their works can be found at the Palace of Versailles. Horace Vernet incorporated episodes from his family history into his paintings: his grandfather lashed to the mast of a storm-tossed ship, and his father scaling the slopes of Vesuvius during an eruption. His relatives provided his initial training, but he also had several mentors, incluing Pierre Guérin and Jean-Baptiste Isabey. Vernet failed to win the Prix de Rome in 1809; but began to receive commissions from the imperial tamily in 1810. Drawing and lithography - a technique involving print making from a drawing enabled him to earn money quickly and distribute his compositions widely.
VERNET THE ROMANTIC
While he started apprenticeship with his family, the artist became acquainted with Theodore Géricault, and produced an intimate yet striking portrait of him. Although Géricault was two years younger than Vernet, he became his mentor. Several paintigs suggest mutual emulation, notably The Riderless Horse Race in Rome, which draws on a theme explored by Géricault a few years earlier. They both depicted the end of the Empire and soldiers' disarray during Napoleon's final campaign. Théodore Géricault and Horace Vernet visited Italy separately, but travelled to Britain together in 1819, where Horace Vernet produced several and very sensitive landscapes.
VERNET AND LITERARY ROMANTICISM
Around 1820, Horace Vernet began to seek inspiration in literature. He expressed himself much more freely in the paintings he produced during this period, and the concentrated energy displayed in Episode from the Battle of Hastings drawn from the Noman Conquest, for example is without parallel in his work. The artist did not turn to Shakespeare despite recent translations into French. He sought inspiration from Classical writers and depicted the abduction of Angelica from Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, a 16th century Italian poem.
Like Théodore Géricault and Eugène Delacroix, Vernet was inspired by English Romantic literature, notably the poetry of Lord Byron, who was popular in France due to his admiration for Napoleon and support for the Greek cause. Mazeppa, which was written in Venice in 1819. was swiftly translated. It exerted a strong attraction over Vernet, who painted two episodes from the poem The figure of Mazeppa was invoked during the Greek War of Independence (1821-1830), and in the November Uprising in Poland (1830-1831) as a Ukrainian national hero who defended a country fighting for independence from Russian imperial rule.
THE LONG SHADOW OF NAPOLEON IN VERNET'S ART
Horace Vernet, a supporter of Bonaparte since the late 1810s, learned on 6 April 1821 that Napoleon had died on 5 May. He promptly painted the deceased emperar on the wave-lashed rock of Saint Helena, surrounded by loyal followers. The power and intensity of Napoleon's Tomb made it a true political allegory which deified the emperor in the eyes of the Romantics. At the height of the Restoration in 1816-1817, Vernet produced numerous bivouac scenes, such as The Wounded Trumpeter, which sold extremely well. He also took on commissions and painted The Battle of Somo-Sierra, 30 November 1808, The Death of Prince Poniatowski at the Battle of Leipzig. 19 October 1813, or The Siege of Saragossa.
In the 1820s, Vernet was not averse to being described as a rebel. This explains why he organized a private exhibition in his workshop in 1822 to display paintings rejected by the Salon, such as The Clichy Barrier, in which he depicted himself during the defence of Paris in 1814.
VERNET AND THE RESTORATION AND THE JULY MONARCHY
Horace Vernet accepted commissions under the Restoration: during the reian of Louis XVIII, he exhibited The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. one of his masterpieces now in the largest Crusades Room at the Palace of Versailles, at the Salon of 1817. He also depicted Charles X an unusual equestrian portrait entitled Review of the Paris Garrison and Royal Guard on the Champs-de-Mars, which was presented at the Salon of 1824.

[@vimmyvijay]

Nice beautiful sharing my friend 😊👍😊

Oh, Thank you so much! It’s a pleasure for me! ✨🤗✨🙏✨ Best wishes! ✨🙌✨👋🏻✨

[@vladimir380]

Incredible painter! I've never seen it before. Where is this museum? Thanks a lot for the video.🌹

It's true, for me it has also been a discovery. A great painter in the third generation has demonstrated his great talent in different types of painting, from landscapes and battles to portraits, a true documentary filmmaker who traveled between different continents and reflected historical events in his impressive paintings.
Exhibition held at the Palace of Versailles from 14 November 2023 to 17 March 2024.
Once again, thank you very much for watching and commenting on my video.
Wishing you the best! ✨🤗✨👋🏻✨🙌✨