Horace Vernet

'', 1831 Early career Vernet was born to painter Carle Vernet, who was himself a son of Claude-Joseph Vernet, also a painter. He was born in the Paris Louvre, while his parents were staying there during the French Revolution. Vernet quickly developed a disdain for the high-minded seriousness of academic French art work which was distinguished by art influenced by Classicism, and decided to paint subjects taken mostly from contemporary life. During his early career, when Napoleon Bonaparte was in power, he began depicting the French soldier in a more familiar, vernacular manner rather than in an idealized, Davidian fashion; he was just twenty when he exhibited the Taking of an Entrenched Camp Some other of his paintings that represent French soldiers in a more direct, less idealizing style, include Dog of the Regiment, ''Trumpeter's Horse, and Death of Poniatowski''. Restoration France on Rue Soufflot, Paris, June 25, 1848'' He gained recognition during the Bourbon Restoration for a series of battle paintings commissioned by the duc d'Orleans, the future King Louis Philippe I. Critics marvelled at the incredible speed with which he painted. Many of his paintings made during this early phase of his career were "noted for their historical accuracy as well as their charged landscapes". Examples of paintings in this style include his Four Battles series: The Battle of Jemappes (1821), The Battle of Montmirail (1822), The Battle of Hanau (1824), and The Battle of Valmy (1826). Enjoying equal favour with the court and with the opposition, he was appointed director of the French Academy in Rome, from 1829 to 1835. Later career His depictions of Algerian battles, such as the Capture of the Smahla and the Capture of Constantine, were well received by other French people, as they were vivid depictions of their army in the heat of battle. After the fall of the July Monarchy during the Revolution of 1848, Vernet discovered a new patron in Napoléon III of France. He continued to paint representations of the heroic French army during the Second Empire and maintained his commitment to and realistic way. He accompanied the French Army during the Crimean War, producing several paintings, truthfully including one of the Battle of the Alma, which was not as well received as his earlier paintings. One well known and possibly apocryphal anecdote maintains that when Vernet was asked to remove a certain obnoxious general from one of his paintings, he replied, "I am a painter of history, sire, and I will not violate the truth", hence demonstrating his fidelity to representing war. Vernet also developed an interest in daguerreotype photography. He took photographs in Egypt as reference material for his paintings, and during a stop at Malta in March 1840 while en route to Egypt, he took the earliest known photographs of the island at Fort Manoel. Today these early photographs are believed to be lost. His nephew Frédéric Goupil-Fesquet, also a painter and his pupil, wrote ''Voyage d'Horace Vernet en Orient'' (2 volumes, 1844). Vernet died in his hometown of Paris in 1863. ==Literary references==

In Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes story "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter", Holmes claims to be related to Vernet, stating, "My ancestors were country squires... my grandmother... was the sister of Vernet, the French artist"; it is generally assumed that this individual is Émile Jean-Horace Vernet, because Horace was only 65 years older than Sherlock Holmes while the other Vernets lived much before. The Holmes-Vernet connection is also central to the plot of Laurie R. King's 2024 novel, ''The Lantern's Dance''. ==Gallery==

File:Roustam - Vernet.jpg|Portrait of Roustam Raza, 1810 File:Vernet Battle of Somosierra.jpg|The Battle of Somosierra, 1816 File:Horace Vernet - Death of Prince Poniatowski.jpg|The Death of Prince Poniatowski, 1816 File:The Battle of Tolosa.png|The Battle of Tolosa, 1817 File:Portrait du duc d'Orléans - Horace Vernet - Musée Condé.jpeg|Portrait of the Duke of Orleans, 1818 File:The Dog of the Regiment Wounded.png|The Dog of the Regiment Wounded, 1819 File:The Wounded Trumpeter.png|The Wounded Trumpeter, 1819 File:Siege of Saragossa.jpg|Siege of Saragossa, 1819 File:Portrait of the Général Marquis de Talhouët-Roy (by Horace Vernet).jpg|Portrait of the Général Marquis de Talhouët-Roy, 1819 File:Massacre of the Mamelukes at Cairo (jpg version and without frame).jpg|Massacre of the Mamelukes at Cairo, 1819 File:La Barrière de Clichy. Défense de Paris, le 30 mars 1814 - Horace Vernet - Musée du Louvre Peintures RF 126.jpg|The Barrier of Clichy, 1820 File:Laurent de Gouvion-Saint-Cyr.jpg|Portrait of Marshal Saint-Cyr, 1821 File:Horace Vernet (1789-1863) - Napoleon's Tomb - P575 - The Wallace Collection.jpg|''Napoleon's Tomb'', 1821 File:Bataille de Jemmapes, 6 novembre 1792.jpg|The Battle of Jemappes, 1821 File:Vernet, Horace - The Artist's Studio - c. 1820.jpg|''The Artist's Studio'', 1821 File:Horace Vernet - The Vesuvius Erupting, the Artist and His Father, Carle Vernet, in the Foreground - 2014.254 - Museum of Fine Arts.jpg|Vesuvius Erupting, 1822 File:Plague in Barcelona (1822), by Horace Vernet.jpg|Plague in Barcelona, 1822 File:Pablo-morillo.jpg|Portrait of Pablo Morillo, 1822 File:Joseph Vernet bundet til masten.jpg|Joseph Vernet Tied to a Mast During a Storm, 1822 File:Allan M'Aulay, Horace Vernet, 1823.jpg|''Allan M'Aulay'', 1823 File:Horace Vernet (1789-1863) - The Quarry - P614 - The Wallace Collection.jpg|The Quarry, 1823 File:Napoleon in Charleroi.png|Napoleon in Charleroi, 1823 File:Horace Vernet, Jean-Louis-André-Théodore Gericault, probably 1822 or 1823, 1998.84, MET.jpg|Portrait of Théodore Géricault, 1823 File:Horace Vernet (1789-1863) - Conrad the Corsair - P368 - The Wallace Collection.jpg|Conrad the Corsair, 1824 File:Horace Vernet (1789-1863) - Duck Shooting - P608 - The Wallace Collection.jpg|Duck Shooting, 1824 File:Louis-Antoine d'Artois, duc d'Angoulême (1775–1844).jpg|Portrait of the Duke of Angoulême, 1824 File:The battle of Montmirail in 1814 (1822), by Horace Vernet.jpg|The Battle of Montmirail, 1824 File:Vernet-Battle of Hanau.jpg|The Battle of Hanau, 1824 File:Napoleon bids farewell to his Guard at Fontainebleau on 20 April 1814 (1825), by Horace Vernet.jpg|Napoleon Bids Farewell to His Guard, 1824 File:La Bataille du Pont d'Arcole.jpg|The Crossing of the Arcole Bridge, 1826 File:Valmy Battle painting.jpg|The Battle of Valmy, 1826 File:Vernet, Horace - The pope Iulius II orders the works of Vatican and Saint-Peter basilica - Louvre INV 8364.jpg|''Pope Julius II ordering Bramante and Michelangelo to design St Peter's Basilica'', 1827 File:Horace Vernet Edith retrouvant le corps d'Harold 1827.jpg|''Edith Recovering Harold's Body after the Battle of Hastings'', 1827 File:Bataille de Bouvines gagnee par Philippe Auguste.jpg|The Battle of Bouvines, 1827 File:Vernet - Jean-Baptiste Isabey - Louvre.jpg|Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Isabey, 1828 File:Il brigante tradito horace vernet 1830 ciociaria.jpg|The Brigand Betrayed, 1828 File:The Battle of Fontenoy, 11th May 1745.png|The Battle of Fontenoy, 1828 File:Pie VIII porté dans la basilique de Saint-Pierre à Rome, by Horace Vernet, 1829, retouched.jpg|Pope Pius VIII brought to the Basilica of Saint Peter in Rome, 1829 File:Pierre-Narcisse Guérin H Vernet s d.jpg|Pierre-Narcisse Guérin, 1829 File:Portrait of Louise Vernet.png|Portrait of Louise Vernet, 1830 File:Polish Prometheus 1831.PNG|The Polish Prometheus, 1831 File:Horace Vernet - Judith et Holopherne 01.jpg|Judith et Holopherne, 1831 File:OlympePélissierStudy.jpg|Study of Olympe Pelissier as Judith, 1831 File:Gabriel-Jean-Joseph, comte Molitor, maréchal de France (1770-1849).jpg|Portrait of Marshal Molitor, 1831 File:Vernet - 31 juillet 1830 - Louis-Philippe quitte le Palais-Royal.jpg|The Duke of Orleans leaving the Palais-Royal, 1832 File:Raphaël au Vatican (Louvre INV 8365).jpg|Raphael at the Vatican, 1832 File:Huntingpontinemarshes.jpg|Hunting in the Pontine Marshes, 1833 File:Bertel Thorvaldsen with the Bust of Horace Vernet.jpg|Portrait of Bertel Thorvaldsen, 1833 File:Carlo Alberto di Savoia (a cavallo).jpg|Carlo Alberto of Savoy, 1834 File:Napoleon friedland.jpg|The Battle of Friedland, 1835 File:Napoleon Wagram.jpg|The Battle of Wagram, 1835 File:Iena.jpg|The Battle of Jena, 1836 File:Horace Vernet Slave Market.JPG|The Slave Market, 1836 File:Horace Vernet The lion hunt-large.jpg|The Lion Hunt, 1836 File:La prise de Constantine 1837 par Horace Vernet.jpg|The Siege of Constantine, 1838 File:Napoléon aux Tuileries - Horace Vernet.jpg|Napoleon at the Tuileries, 1838 File:An Algerian Lady Hawking.jpg|An Algerian Lady Hawking, 1839 File:Tage 1831.jpg|Battle of the Tagus, 1840 File:Anvers 1832 horace vernet.jpg|The Siege of Antwerp, 1840 File:Combat de l'Habrah.jpg|The Battle of Habrah, 1840 File:Emile Jean Horace Vernet 001.jpg|Judah and Tamar, 1840 File:Épisode de l'expédition du Mexique en 1838 (cropped).jpg|Episode of the Mexican expedition in 1838, 1841 File:Horace Vernet (1789-1863) - Arabs Travelling in the Desert - P584 - The Wallace Collection.jpg|Arabs Travelling in the Desert, 1843 File:Louis-Philippe et ses fils 2.jpg|Louis Philippe and His Sons, 1846 File:Vernet - Bataille d'Isly - 1846.jpg|The Battle of Isly, 1846 File:Émile Jean-Horace Vernet - The Angel of Death.jpg|The Angel of Death, 1851 File:The battle of the Alma in 1854 (1856), by Horace Vernet.png|The Battle of the Alma, 1856 File:Émile-Jean-Horace Vernet (1789-1863) - Zouaves at the Malakoff - RCIN 406470 - Royal Collection.jpg|Zouaves at the Malakoff, 1856 File:Pierre Joseph François Bosquet.jpg|Portrait of Pierre Bosquet, 1857 File:François Certain de Canrobert Versailles.png|Portrait of Marshal Canrobert, 1857 File:La prise de Malakoff.jpg|The Taking of the Malakoff Redoubt, 1858 File:Wounded zouave (1858), by Horace Vernet.jpg|A Wounded Zouave, 1858 File:Maréchal Mac Mahon.jpg|Portrait of Marshal MacMahon, 1860 ==References==