Death of Prince Poniatowski during the retreat after the Battle of Leipzig, October 19, 1813

The one campaign function nobody plans for

Retreat is a category of its own. A charge is a picture of intent; a retreat is a picture of what happens when intent fails, and the animal's job changes with it, from weapon to means of escape and often to casualty. This record names a retreat, a battle and a date in its title, and files the work under Animal Art > Horse alongside a forest heading.

What the record holds

The date of creation is 1816 and the location line reads Private Collection. The dimensions are 65.5 x 82 cm, a small canvas for a subject of this kind and much closer to a cabinet picture than to the battle pieces elsewhere in this catalogue. Romanticism is the style term on the record and French the nationality; the measured colour family of the image is yellow.

Two dates, both in the record

The title names October 19, 1813. The catalogue dates the picture 1816. The work therefore follows the event by a few years, which the record states plainly and this page repeats without adding to it. How the episode unfolded, who reported it, and what the painter worked from are not in this catalogue.