Portrait de moine

1811

Marries Louise Pujol

Marries Louise Pujol, daughter of Governor Louis Pujol; they have two daughters, Louise, later the wife of Paul Delaroche, and Henriette Edmée, later the wife of Adolphe Yvon. Needing money for his young family, he takes on any work: clothing designs and caricatures for the Journal des dames et des modes, horses and races, portraits and landscapes.

1812

Salon debut with “The Taking of an Entrenched Camp”

Makes his debut at the Paris Salon with “The Taking of an Entrenched Camp near Glatz”, commissioned by Jérôme Bonaparte, Napoleon's younger brother and King of Westphalia; impressed by the artist's talent, Jérôme also commissioned an equestrian portrait of himself. By other accounts, Vernet was only twenty when the picture was shown.

1814

Among the civilian defenders of Paris

Becomes one of the civilian defenders of Paris against the approaching armies of the Allies; he would later depict the episode in “The Barrière de Clichy” (1820).

1822

Paintings rejected by the Salon shown in his studio

From the first years of the Restoration Vernet's studio was a meeting place for artists and veterans hostile to the Bourbons: he openly kept up a cult of Napoleon, yet secured the support of Louis-Philippe, duc d'Orléans. When the Salon jury of 1822 rejected some of his paintings for their supposed anti-royalist character, he exhibited them in his studio, which drew many visitors.

1826

Elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts

Becomes a member of the Institut de France, in the Académie des Beaux-Arts, painting section (seat no. 10).

1833

Travels to Algeria as official artist

At Louis-Philippe's request he goes to Algeria as an official artist, with two battalions assigned to guard his journeys; yet he is struck less by the feats of the French soldiers than by their brave opponents in picturesque costumes. It is the first of five long visits to North Africa (1833, 1837, 1839–1840, 1845, 1853), during which he eagerly draws and gathers documents on the French conquests in Algeria and Morocco, material later turned into large canvases for the military gallery at Versailles.