JEAN BAPTISTE ÉDOUARD DETAILLE (France, 1848-1912). "Les victimes du Devoir". Photogravure. Published by Goupil & Cie. Measurements: 54 x 46 cm; 61 x 53 cm (frame). This engraving edited by Goupil & Cie, is based on the painting Les Victimes du Devoir" by the artist Édouard Detaille. A French academic painter and military artist, he was noted for his precision and realistic detail. He was considered the "semi-official artist of the French army". Detaille was born in Paris and grew up in Picardy. His was a prosperous military family; his grandfather had been Napoleon's arms supplier. An amateur artist, a friend of several collectors and painters, including Horace Vernet, Detaille's father encouraged his son's artistic endeavors. He began his artistic studies at the age of seventeen with the famous military painter Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier; he had originally come to him to ask for an introduction to the celebrated Alexandre Cabanel, but Meissonier decided to teach Detaille himself. Meissonier became a great influence on his style, and it was he who instilled in Detaille an appreciation for accuracy and precision. Detaille made his debut as an artist at the Salon-the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts-of 1867 with a painting from Meissonier's studio.