Antoine-Jean Gros
French, 1771-1835

At Eylau in East Prussia (now part of Poland) on February 7 and 8, 1807, the French under Napoleon Bonaparte fought Russian and Prussian armies in snow and bitter cold. The armies were deadlocked until the Russians retreated during the night, leaving the French as bloodied victors of a battle with staggering casualties on both sides—some 50,000 dead and wounded. The next day Napoleon inspected the battlefield amidst the appalling carnage.

In an effort to secure the perception of this battle as a significant French victory, an official competition was announced to create the scene of Napoleon’s visit to Eylau. Antoine-Jean Gros, a favorite pupil of Jacques-Louis David [link], entered this painting in the competition and won the commission to execute an immense version of the subject, now in the Louvre. The subject responds to rumors of enormous French casualties by representing mostly Russian dead and wounded—depicted by Gros with almost unprecedented candor for the horrors of war. Like other imperial propaganda, the painting represented Napoleon as the humane and compassionate leader whose destiny was to bring peace and order to Europe.

 

Oil on canvas, 1807
Purchased with funds from the