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Lot Essay
Nicholas-Antoine Taunay was the son of the painter and enamelist, Pierre-Henri Taunay, employed at Sèvres. At a young age he trained with Nicolas-Bernard Lépicié and in 1784 was given the opportunity to study in Rome, where he worked for three years. Although Taunay was agrée to the Académie in 1784, he never became a full member and it was not until the foundation of the Institut in 1795 that he became an active participant. Taunay exhibited regularly at the Salon after his return from Rome in 1787, submitting works from every genre. In January 1816 Nicolas Taunay and his brother, the sculptor Auguste-Marie Taunay, went to Brazil to help found the Academy of Fine Arts in Rio de Janeiro.
The present painting depicts an episode in the Egyptian Campaign led by Napoleon between 1798 and 1801. In this historic campaign, Bonaparte led the French Army from Egypt to the Holy Land, where he and his army battled the Turks and Arabs. The incident depicted here represents a battle that took place on the 8 April 1799. In it, General Junot, with his 300 infantrymen and 160 cavalrymen, were surrounded by 4000 enemy horsemen in the mountains around Nazareth. Junot managed to hold off the enemy and was victorious but his troops were severely compromised. Bonaparte dispatched General Kléber to support Junot the following day. He, too, faced the enemy and was outnumbered at Mount Tabor, but eventually managed to defeat them.
On the 25 April of the same year, Bonaparte commissioned a monumental painting of Junot's victory. The artist was to be selected by jury and each candidate was given five months to submit a sketch. The artists relied on eyewitness accounts of the battle for detailed drawings and maps relating to it. Four finalists emerged- Taunay, with the present sketch, Hennequin, Caraffe, and Gros- who was successful with a painting now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nantes. The four submissions were exhibited to the public in the Galerie d'Apollon at the Louvre in 1801. They were the subject of much discussion amongst critics at the time.
The present painting is one of two sketches completed by Taunay for the competition. According to Mrs. Lebrun-Jouve, it is the second version. The first is signed and in the Jorge Yunes collection in São Paolo, Brazil (C. Lebrun-Jouve, op. cit., p. 214). Taunay also completed a larger, finished version of this composition that was acquired by the government and exhibited in the Galerie Historique, Versailles.
The present painting depicts an episode in the Egyptian Campaign led by Napoleon between 1798 and 1801. In this historic campaign, Bonaparte led the French Army from Egypt to the Holy Land, where he and his army battled the Turks and Arabs. The incident depicted here represents a battle that took place on the 8 April 1799. In it, General Junot, with his 300 infantrymen and 160 cavalrymen, were surrounded by 4000 enemy horsemen in the mountains around Nazareth. Junot managed to hold off the enemy and was victorious but his troops were severely compromised. Bonaparte dispatched General Kléber to support Junot the following day. He, too, faced the enemy and was outnumbered at Mount Tabor, but eventually managed to defeat them.
On the 25 April of the same year, Bonaparte commissioned a monumental painting of Junot's victory. The artist was to be selected by jury and each candidate was given five months to submit a sketch. The artists relied on eyewitness accounts of the battle for detailed drawings and maps relating to it. Four finalists emerged- Taunay, with the present sketch, Hennequin, Caraffe, and Gros- who was successful with a painting now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nantes. The four submissions were exhibited to the public in the Galerie d'Apollon at the Louvre in 1801. They were the subject of much discussion amongst critics at the time.
The present painting is one of two sketches completed by Taunay for the competition. According to Mrs. Lebrun-Jouve, it is the second version. The first is signed and in the Jorge Yunes collection in São Paolo, Brazil (C. Lebrun-Jouve, op. cit., p. 214). Taunay also completed a larger, finished version of this composition that was acquired by the government and exhibited in the Galerie Historique, Versailles.