Antoine-Jean Gros: Napoléon on the Battlefield of Eylau (1808)

(Louvre, Paris, France)

A painting by the French artist Antoine-Jean Gros (1771 – 1835). This painting shows the battle of Eylau which was a Part of the War of the Fourth Coalition. The war of the Fourth Coalition was fought between Napoleon's French Empire against Prussia, Russia, Saxony, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Napoleon managed to decisively defeat Prussia in the twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt (14 October 1806) and went further East to confront the approaching Russian armies. At the battle of the Eylau on 7 and 8 February 1807 the French and Russian armies fought each other in a bloody and inconclusive 14 hours battle. Both armies were deadlocked until the Russians retreated during the night, leaving the French victors by default. The staggering number of dead and wounded on both sides—some 50,000—made this one of the most devastating battles of the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon managed to defeat the Russian army several months later during the Battle of Friedland (June 14, 1807). this piece serves as Napoleonic state propaganda: it downplays the French losses (about 25,000–30,000 dead and wounded) and shows only Russian dead and wounded being tended by French medical officers. Painting from 1808.