Épisode de la campagne de Russie

The painting portrays the disastrous French withdrawal from Moscow in 1812, the concluding phase of Napoleon’s Russian campaign. Charlet emphasizes the harshness of the winter landscape and the suffering of the troops, underscoring the human cost of the military disaster.

Executed in oil, Charlet employs a muted palette of grays and browns to convey the bleak, snow‑laden terrain. The composition balances a foreground of exhausted soldiers with a distant, cloud‑filled sky, using loose brushwork to suggest movement and the chill of the environment.

After its Salon debut, the canvas entered private collections before being acquired by the Musée des Beaux‑Arts de Lyon, where it remains on display. Documentation traces its ownership through 19th‑century French dealers, confirming its continuous presence in French institutional holdings.

Created more than two decades after the events it depicts, the work reflects a period of French reflection on the Napoleonic wars. By the 1830s, artists like Charlet were revisiting the empire’s defeats, contributing to a broader cultural reassessment of France’s recent military history.