Colonel Count Claude Etienne Guyot (1768-1837)

This portrait of Colonel Count Claude Etienne Guyot records a Napoleonic cavalry commander who served in the elite Chasseurs à Cheval of the Imperial Guard. Gros’s military portraits document the officer corps that formed the backbone of Napoleon’s Grande Armée during the campaigns that reshaped Europe. Characteristic of the artist's mature approach, the work displays monumental scale, vivid reportorial color, Romantic energy in figure groups, combining David's Neoclassical training with the excitement of actual military events.

The cavalry officer is rendered with Gros’s characteristic energy and bold coloring. The military uniform’s details are painted with precision while the overall handling maintains the Romantic dynamism of Gros’s style.