Battle of Somosierra 1808

Battle of Somosierra 1808 from 1850 at the National Museum in Warsaw is a later version of the famous cavalry charge. Vernet's repeated treatment of this subject reflects its importance to Polish and French military memory. Vernet, director of the French Academy in Rome from 1828 and one of the most prolific history painters of the 19th century, executed military and narrative subjects with the fluid technical assurance and documentary accuracy that made him the pre-eminent French battle painter

The cavalry charge is rendered with dramatic energy and documentary precision. Vernet's mature handling captures the violence and heroism of the charge.