About the Artist

Antoine-jean Gros (1771 Paris-1835 Bas-Meudon, near Paris) was a pioneer of the French Romantic period. Trained by his father in miniature painting, he became a student of Jacques-Louis David in 1785. In 1793 he fled to Italy for political reasons. In 1796 he met Napoleon (1769-1821) in Milan and accompanied him on his Italian campaign, then returned to Paris in 1799. Inspired by the work of Peter Paul Rubens, Gros developed more active compositions and a more intense colouration while the freshness and radiance of his work inspired the Romantics, particularly Eugene Delacroix, he nonetheless remained closely bound to the neoclassical academic painting style. Along with realistic war pictures he also painted portaits of nobles. Other works by the artist include Christine Boyer, 1800, Musee du Louvre, Paris; Bonaparte and the Plague-Stricken, 1804, Musee du Louvre, Paris; and The Battle of Abukir, 1806, Musee National du Chateau de Versailles et de Trianon, Versailles.