Pifferaro

1854

The Balkans and the Danube: “Recreation in a Russian Camp”

The planned trip to “Russian Asia” was cancelled by the Crimean War, and Gérôme set off for the Balkans with the actor Edmond Got. In Wallachia he saw the Russian army arrive and sketched singing conscripts with an officer holding a whip; this sketch became the basis of “Recreation in a Russian Camp”.

1854

A lawsuit over an unrecognisable portrait

Infatuated with an actress, Mademoiselle Duran, Gérôme persuaded her to sit for him, but she refused to pay for the portrait and he sued her for 2,000 francs. The judge ruled that the sitter could not be recognised in the portrait, so she was not obliged to accept or pay for it.

1855

The 1855 fair: “The Age of Augustus” and “Recreation in a Russian Camp”

Critics met the huge canvas “The Age of Augustus” (6.2 × 10.15 m) without enthusiasm: they were angered by the belittling of the Nativity and the exaltation of the emperor, and only Gautier left a wholly positive review. The most attention went to the modest “Recreation in a Russian Camp”, painted in a realist spirit; Gérôme was made a knight of the Legion of Honour.

1856

Four months in Egypt with Bartholdi

In 1856 Gérôme spent four months in Egypt with the playwright Augier, the sculptor Bartholdi and other artists; the party hired a boat with cabins. Bartholdi brought a camera and infected Gérôme with his enthusiasm for photography, and from then on Gérôme constantly used photographs as a source of detail for his canvases.

1857

The 1857 Salon: Egyptian subjects and “The Duel”

Paintings inspired by the Egyptian trip — “Egyptian Recruits”, “Camels Watering” — and the puzzling “The Duel after the Masquerade” enhanced Gérôme’s reputation. Capitalising on the success of the “Duel”, he made two copies himself: one for Alexander II (now in the Hermitage) and one for reproduction in print (Walters Art Museum).