Cuirassier retenant son cheval qui se cabre

Created as a lithograph, the work relies on the contrast of light and dark tones achieved through careful drawing on a stone surface and subsequent printing on smooth, wove paper. The varied textures—sharp line work for the rider’s attire and softer shading for the horse’s musculature—produce depth and emphasize the dramatic tension of the scene, aligning with Romantic interests in emotion and movement.

The print emerged in the years following the fall of Napoleon, a time when French military imagery remained popular. Carle Vernet, part of a multi‑generational artistic family, produced a series of such prints that circulated among collectors of contemporary military prints, though specific ownership records for this particular sheet are limited.

Vernet’s oeuvre is situated within a broader French tradition of depicting cavalry and battle, a lineage that includes his father’s marine vistas and his own son’s later works. The lithograph reflects the early 19th‑century fascination with the heroic yet precarious nature of the soldier’s experience, a motif echoed in Romantic literature and painting.