MEISSONIER Ernest (1815 – 1891) – Horse in profile

Ernest Meissonier (1815-1891), Horse in profile, c.1872-1875, oil on panel, 11,3 cm x 15,5 cm.
Provenance: Vente Meissonier, Galerie Georges Petit, 19-20 May 1893, n.125.

Depicting a horse in strict profile, this oil on panel belongs to the group of preparatory studies undertaken by Ernest Meissonier for a major state commission. The work relates directly to the painting Group of Cavalry in the Snow: Moreau and Dessoles before Hohenlinden (1875), commissioned by the French State to commemorate the victory of General Moreau and General Dessoles over the Austrian forces at the Battle of Hohenlinden in 1800, and today preserved in the National Gallery of Ireland.

Rather than functioning as a finished autonomous image, the panel should be understood as a working study devoted to the precise analysis of equine anatomy and posture. The horse is isolated against a neutral ground, allowing Meissonier to concentrate entirely on structure, balance, and proportion. The background bears visible pentimenti and reworked passages, evidence of repeated adjustments and revisions that testify to the artist’s meticulous working method.

Such studies reveal the central role of preparatory work in Meissonier’s practice. Known for his extraordinary attention to detail and historical exactitude, the artist approached large-scale compositions through an accumulation of focused
studies, in which individual elements – figures, horses, equipment— were examine dindependently before being integrated into the final composition.