Vasiliy Vereshchagin, ctd

Napoleon and Marshal Lauriston (Peace at Any Price) (1899-1900)

 Napoleon on the Borodino Heights (1897)

 Negotiators, 'Give Up!' 'Go to the Devil' (1873)

 Night Bivouac of the Grand Army, 1812 (1896-97)

Another painting by Vasily Vereshchagin with the title "Night Bivouac of Great Army, 1812" shows the poor rest of the French soldiers, huddled together under thin blankets, sleeping on frozen earth. A snow storm is sweeping past them, in the foreground we see a broken wagon buried in heaps of snow. Rows of rifles are pointing upwards into the bluish-green-grey air, and we wonder how many of those soldiers are still alive, how many dead. Vasily Vereshchagin clearly was no friend of the French. The viewers can feel the painter's satisfaction, depicting the French losses during their shameful retreat.

 [from Putin and the Battle of Borodino, by Olivia Kroth]

 On the High Road (Retreat) (1887-1895)

 On the Way. Bad News from France (1895)

Picket in the Balkans (1878)