The Veteran at Home

The Veteran at Home from 1823 at the Wallace Collection shows a retired soldier in domestic repose. Vernet's genre scenes of military life captured the human side of soldiering alongside his grand battle paintings. 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 interior scene is rendered with careful observation and warm palette. Vernet's handling of the domestic setting creates an intimate military genre scene.