Ralph’s post yesterday about the battle of Buzenval referred to the death of the painter Henri Regnault in that battle. Regnault’s works included this large equestrian portrait of the Spanish General Juan Prim, painted in 1869 and now in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.
Prim is depicted at the head of the 1868 revolt in Spain against Queen Isabella II, which led to her abdication. Prim became Regent and later President of the Council of Ministers. In government, Prim promoted the candidacy of Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen for the Spanish throne. The diplomatic crisis that ensued in 1870 was the immediate cause of the Franco- Prussian war. It could thus be said that Prim indirectly caused the death of the artist who had painted him less than two years before. The Wiki entry on Prim is here.
Prim had made his reputation as a soldier in the Moroccan War of 1859-60 and this picture shows Prim in action at the battle of Tetuan during that war. For information on the Moroccan War, see here.
These paints look like Delacroix (horses!) ! beautifull !
ReplyDeleteWhat are those troops looking like kind of spanish "zouaves"on the second paint?
best regards
paco
I wish I knew! I know very little about the Spanish army in that period and it would be most welcome if an expert on that subject were to comment here.
ReplyDeletebest regards
Charles
Not an expert but those are catalan volunteers and the cap is called "barretina"
ReplyDeleteThanks, gehiegi. You will see from my later post that I had tracked down the catalan volunteers.
ReplyDeleteCharles