Events at the Wallace Collection

Napoleonic News Desk

by Paul Chamberlain

The Wallace Collection consists of twenty-five galleries of painting, furniture, porcelain, arms and armour covering many periods of history. This year they have a number of events with a Napoleonic theme:

Fighting for Napoleon: Two Battle Paintings by Horace Vernet: 18th June - 12th September

This exhibition will bring to Hertford House two great paintings of Napoleonic battles that were once owned by the 4th Marquess of Hertford, the father of Sir Richard Wallace. They have been lent by the National Gallery and depict The Battle of Hanau (1813) and The Battle of Montmirail (1814), and were painted by the French artist Horace Vernet in the early 1820s for the duc d'Orléans, later King Louis Philippe. Each is almost three metres wide and meticulously detailed. Also on display will be watercolours with Napoleonic military subjects from the Wallace Collection's own collection as well as arms and armour of the period.

A Miniature Portrait of the Duke of Wellington: 28th June

The French miniature painter Jean-Bap-tiste Isabey painted many portraits of Napo-leon but, after the Emperor's fall from power, was also quite prepared to paint his former enemies. The Wallace Collection owns a fine version of Isabey's portrait of the Duke of Wellington. Stephen Duffy will present a discussion of this miniature at 1.00pm.

Napoleonic News Desk

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