Emperor Napoleon I and his staff on horseback

Napoleon and His Staff on Horseback from 1830 at the Rijksmuseum shows Vernet painting the emperor in his most characteristic setting: on horseback commanding his armies. These equestrian portraits helped establish Napoleon's posthumous mythic image. 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-em

The equestrian composition presents Napoleon with characteristic authority. Vernet's handling of horses and military costume demonstrates his mastery of the military painting genre.