Horseman in a Storm

model c. 1878, cast after 1894

Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier

Associated Names
Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier

Artist, French, 1815 - 1891

The sculpture depicts a solitary figure on horseback. The rider is cloaked in voluminous garments that billow dramatically as if caught by the wind. The rider is wearing a hat and appears to be huddled against the elements, clutching the reins of the horse. The sculpture is made of a dark material, likely bronze, which gives it a deep brown patina with subtle variations adding to its realism. The horse is depicted mid-stride, with one leg raised. This sculpture conveys a lifelike presence and occupies space with a strong linear movement from head to tail, drawing the eye along its intricately detailed form.

Media Options

Skip thumbnail navigation
Back to thumbnail navigation
This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.
On View

West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G8

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    bronze

  • Credit Line

    Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

  • Dimensions

    overall (including self-base): 47.2 x 59.3 x 23.9 cm (18 9/16 x 23 3/8 x 9 7/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1980.44.10

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(M. R. Schweitzer Gallery, New York); sold 18 April 1966 to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, Upperville, Virginia; gift 1980 to NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1966

  • Schweitzer Gallery, New York, 1966, as Napoleon in Russia.

1974

  • Nineteenth-Century Sculpture, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1974, unnumbered checklist, as The Retreat from Moscow.

Bibliography

1994

  • Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994: 149, repro.

2000

  • Butler, Ruth, and Suzanne Glover Lindsay, with Alison Luchs, Douglas Lewis, Cynthia J. Mills, and Jeffrey Weidman. European Sculpture of the Nineteenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 2000: 287-291, color repro.

2008

  • Penny, Nicholas. "The Evolution of the Plinth, Pedestal, and Socle." In Collecting Sculpture in Early Modern Europe. Nicholas Penny and Eike D. Schmidt, eds. Studies in the History of Art 70, Symposium Papers 47 (2008): 462, 463 fig. 3.

Inscriptions

incised in the model on left side of self-base and heightened after casting: Meissonier; cold-stamped behind horse's left rear hoof: 31; foundry mark cold-stamped onto right rear of self-base: Siot-Decauville / fondeur / Paris

Markings

FM: Siot Decauville

Wikidata ID

Q63854690

You may be interested in

Loading Results