Carle Vernet (1758—1836) — artist and lithographer. He was the son of landscape painter Joseph Vernet and father of painter of the historical genre Horace Vernet. Taught by N. B. Lepicier. Worked in Paris and Rome. He made several paintings showing historical and battle scenes, glorifying Napoleon I. During the restoration of the Bourbons he painted hunting scenes of Charle X. He also taught painting at that time.
The picture belongs to a series of works showing Napoleon, his second wife Marie-Louise and numerous courtiers during a hunt in Compiegne forest, situated 65 kilometers northeast of Paris.
The artist also depicted two episodes preceding this event. the first one can be seen in the drawing «Empress Marie-Louise Departs for a Hunt», from the collection of Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich kept in the Hermitage (Drawings, # 18887). the main motif of the graphic composition-Marie-Louise’s carriage with four horses-is similar to the composition of the Hermitage painting.
The second episode of the departure for the hunt is depicted in the work by Vernet and Bidault, which shows Napoleon joining the cavalcade («The Emperor and the Empress Depart for a Hunt in the Forest of Compiegne», 1810—1811, the Marmottan Museum, Paris). Finally, the Hermitage painting shows a moment of Napoleon actually hunting a deer chased into a trap by huntsmen. Napoleon did not like hunting but took part in it with all the royal privileges and according to the etiquette of the court.
The painting was commissioned by Napoleon I and soon came into the possession of his adopted son Eugène de Beauharnais. A copy of it is kept in the museum of Versailles (MV. 5836; 1333165). A.B.
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