Étude pour la seconde attaque de Constantin, le 13. octobre 1837

Study for the Second Attack of Constantine from 1843 at the Norwegian Museum documents the French siege of the Algerian city in 1837. Vernet's campaign paintings required extensive preparatory studies to achieve their documentary accuracy. 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 Frenc

The study shows military action with characteristic precision. Vernet's handling captures the chaos of the assault with controlled compositional energy.