199 - Antoine-Jean DUCLAUX (Lyon, 1783–1868)

Antoine-Jean DUCLAUX (Lyon, 1783–1868) Marengo, Napoleon I’s favorite horse, led by Roustam Raza in the courtyard of a farmhouse in the Bugey region. Oil on canvas, signed and dated lower right “Duclaux 1820.” On the back, a label reads: “Mr. J. Plantin.” In a gilded wooden frame decorated with palmette and bead friezes. H. 38 x W. 49 cm. Frame: H. 52 x W. 64 cm. Provenance - Artist’s collection. - Purchased by the current owner’s great-great-grandfather from the painter Antoine-Jean Duclaux. History It appears that this previously unpublished painting depicts one of Napoleon’s favorite warhorses, Marengo, a light-gray Arabian thoroughbred, tended by the Emperor’s Mamluk, Roustam Raza (c. 1781–1845), in the courtyard of a farmhouse in the Bugey region where Napoleon stopped on his return to France after his exile on Elba, before heading toward Grenoble. It is said to have been painted based on studies made by Duclaux during his visit to Bugey in 1818.