The Battle of Nazareth

Antoine-Jean Gros's The Battle of Nazareth of 1801, commissioned for a competition won by the young painter, depicts Joachim Murat's heroic defeat of a much larger Ottoman force in the Galilee in April 1799. The competition subject required painters to document French military glory in the Near East, and Gros's winning treatment established his career as the primary chronicler of Napoleonic military achievement. The painting's dynamic composition — the cavalry charge seen at close range — established the template for subsequent Napoleonic battle painting.

Gros renders the chaotic cavalry combat with the dynamic energy and Orientalist palette that would characterize his Napoleonic battle paintings. The swirling composition of mounted fighters and the Middle Eastern landscape demonstrate his emerging mastery of large-scale military painting.