Jean-Louis-Ernest MeissonierFrench, 1815–1891Soldier with Upraised Arm
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Soldier with Upraised Arm” now? Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Cleveland, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
Details
- Accession number
- 2009.130
In the catalog
Sources
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Image: The Cleveland Museum of Art — Museum open access
In the life of Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier
The whole life1860s
A turn to battle subjects and high prices
In the 1860s he begins to paint historical and battle scenes from the time of the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars and the conflicts of Emperor Napoleon III; his contemporaries valued them even more than his earlier genre works. In time he received 300,000 francs each for The Charge of the Cuirassiers and Napoleon I in 1814, and 200,000 for Napoleon III at Solferino, which its first owner later resold for 850,000.
June 1868
Travels to Antibes with easel, family and horses
In June 1868 Meissonier travels to Antibes with canvas and easel, his wife, son and daughter, and two of his horses, Bachelier and Lady Coningham. The light of the south attracted him: in the Antibes landscapes he, possibly under the influence of plein-air landscapists, abandoned for a while his obsession with historical authenticity in favour of something more spontaneous.
1870–1871
A colonel in besieged Paris
At the beginning of the war in 1870 he accompanies Napoleon III as an attaché of the imperial staff, and during the Siege of Paris he commands a regiment of the National Guard (other accounts call it a regiment de marche, one of the improvised units thrown up in the chaos of the war).
1870–1871
The conflict with Manet and the Impressionists
Édouard Manet served under his command during the Franco-Prussian War; their relations went badly then and only worsened later. His long conflict with the Impressionists did great harm to Meissonier’s reputation after his death.
