Attributed to ANTOINE JEAN GROS (France,1771 -1835). "Auguste de Marmont, Duke of Ragusa". Oil on canvas. Attached is a study by Don Carlos José Catalán, doctor in art history and conservator. It shows restorations. It has a stamp on the back. It conserves frame of epoch, c. 1820. Measurements: 80 x 62.5 cm; 102 x 85 cm (frame). Following the study of Don Carlos José Catalán, the protagonist of this work is Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont (France,1774 - Venice1852) was a French general and nobleman who rose to the rank of Marshal of the Empire and received the title of Duke of Ragusa. In the War of Independence, Marmont succeeded André Masséna in command of the French army in northern Spain, but lost decisively at the Battle of Salamanca. The son of a former army officer who belonged to the petty nobility, Marmont adopted the principles of the Revolution. His love of the military soon showed, and his father took him to Dijon to learn mathematics before he entered the artillery. There he met Napoleon Bonaparte, whom he renewed after obtaining his commission when he served in Toulon. Marmont became aide-de-camp to General Bonaparte, remained with him during his fall from grace and accompanied him to Italy and Egypt, earning distinction and promotion to brigadier general. In 1801, he became inspector general of artillery and in 1804, grand officer of the Legion of Honour. However, he was very disappointed to be omitted from the list of officers who were appointed marshals. In 1805 he was ordered to take possession of Dalmatia with his army and occupied the Republic of Ragusa. For the next five years, he was civil and military governor of Dalmatia and in 1808, he was appointed Duke of Ragusa. After the fall of Napoleon, Marmont remained loyal to the restored Bourbon King Louis XVIII. He was appointed Peer of France and Major General of the Royal Guard, and in 1820, Knight of the Order of the Holy Spirit and Grand Officer of the Order of Saint Louis. Marmont accompanied the king into exile and lost his marshalate. His desire to return to France was never satisfied and he wandered through central and eastern Europe, finally settling in Vienna, where he was welcomed by the Austrian government. Ros studied with Jacques-Louis David in Paris and began an independent artistic career during the French Revolution. Forced to leave France, he moved to Genoa and witnessed the nearby Battle of Arcole (1796). Inspired by an event during the battle, he produced a portrait of the French commander, Napoleon Bonaparte, then a newly promoted general. The portrait brought Gros to public attention and won Napoleon's patronage. After travelling with Napoleon's army for several years, he returned to Paris in 1799. Gros painted several large paintings of battles and other events in Napoleon's life. These were mostly neoclassical in style, but Napoleon on the Battlefield of Eylau adopted a more realistic depiction of the horrors of war. Gros also painted portraits of French army officers and members of French high society. After Napoleon's fall, he changed his artistic approach and produced more historical paintings, which art historians consider less impressive than his earlier works.