ÉMILE-JEAN-HORACE VERNET | NAPOLEONIC TROOPS FIGHTING MOUNTED MAMELUKS (POSSIBLY THE BATTLE OF THE PYRAMIDS)

Sale: Sotheby's, Monaco, June 17, 1989, lot 601, illustrated

Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

The smoke of gunfire and chaos of battle are palpable in Horace Vernet’s dramatic scene of a battle during the Napoleonic war. Horses, and their mounts, are crowded together, engaged in hand to hand combat, their proximity to the front of the picture plane increasing the claustrophobia of battle. While the horizon and landscape is obscured by a sea of warriors, a clue to the sight of the battle can be found in the figures’ uniforms. The distinctive conical shaped helmets, adorned with spikes or flowing adornments, colorful shirts, curved sabers and round metal shields define one side as Mamluk warriors. The red jackets and plumed helmets of the five fighting soldiers, arrayed across the center of the picture and slightly raised among the maelstrom, are members of Napoleon’s army. 

This battle scene may depict the Battle of the Pyramids, also known as the Battle of Embabeh, which took place on July 21, 1798. The battle was fought between the French army, under Napoleon’s command and marching from the recently captured Alexandria towards Cairo, and the local Mamluk forces, a highly trained cavalry under the command of Murad Bey. Protected by the Nile on one flank and just miles from the Pyramids of Giza, the French forces scored a decisive win, signaling the beginning of the end of Mamluk rule in Egypt and laying the groundwork for Napoleon to enter Cairo unopposed days later.