Jean-Baptiste Jourdan

Jean-Baptiste Jourdan from 1834 at Versailles depicts the Revolutionary and Napoleonic era marshal. Vernet's gallery of military portraits at Versailles constitutes a visual history of French military leadership. 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 portrait presents the marshal with characteristic formal precision. Vernet's polished handling creates an image of military authority.