1807, Friedland

The painting is executed in oil on canvas, a large-format work measuring 135.9 by 242.6 cm. Meissonier labored over it for fourteen years, beginning with the sky and creating individual studies for each horse and soldier, including wax models, to achieve meticulous realism. This exhaustive preparatory process produced a highly finished, polished surface. The clean, precise handling and metallic sheen of the depiction prompted Édouard Manet to remark that “everything looks like it's made of steel... except the cuirasses.” The work exemplifies Meissonier's tight, academic style and his commitment to historical accuracy in composition and detail.

Ernest Meissonier worked on 1807, Friedland from approximately 1861 to 1875, a creation span of fourteen years. He began with the sky and produced separate studies for each figure, using wax models. The painting is dated 1875.

It is currently held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. No commission or prior ownership chain is documented in the provided sources.

Completed after fourteen years of labor, 1807, Friedland is Meissonier's largest and most ambitious work, one that both consolidated and challenged his reputation. The painting caused an immediate sensation and drew widespread praise, yet also attracted pointed criticism. Novelist Henry James and painter Édouard Manet were among the detractors; Manet wryly observed that "everything looks like it's made of steel... except the cuirasses."

Critic Henry Houssaye further contested the painting's historical accuracy, noting that Napoleon had not actually reviewed his troops at Friedland. Beyond these contemporaneous debates, the composition later drew accusations of plagiarism when Pedro Américo's Independence or Death (1888) displayed striking similarities. The work thus occupies a complex place in art history as both a technical tour de force of military painting and a subject of ongoing critical and scholarly scrutiny.

The painting initially caused a sensation and was widely praised, but also drew criticism from figures such as Henry James and Édouard Manet, who remarked that 'everything looks like it's made of steel... except the cuirasses.' Its legacy includes a notable controversy: the Brazilian painting Independence or Death (1888) by Pedro Américo bears a strong resemblance to Meissonier's work, leading to allegations of plagiarism. This connection highlights the painting's enduring impact beyond its immediate context.

Ernest Meissonier's "1807, Friedland" is an oil on canvas painting created between approximately 1861 and 1875. This significant work by the French artist is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, representing a major undertaking in his career and his most ambitious surviving composition.