Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier
- Artist: Robert Jefferson Bingham
- Date: circa 1867
- Medium: albumen carte-de-visite
- Dimensions: 3 3/8 in. x 2 1/8 in. (86 mm x 55 mm) image size
- Portrays: Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier
- Museum: The National Portrait Gallery
- Collection record: The National Portrait Gallery website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
Standing before you is an albumen carte‑de‑visite from 1867 by Robert Jefferson Bingham, showing Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier at his studio door. The small frame captures him holding palette and paintbrush in front of an easel, with a loyal dog at his feet. You can see the oil study for Napoleon III’s Battle of Solférino—an exhibit he brought to the 1864 Paris Salon. Albumen paper gives the image a soft texture that echoes Meissonier’s painterly style. Critics praised him as “manual dexterity and eye for fascinating minutiae.” This miniature portrait offers a glimpse of his daily routine and a hint of the grand canvases he created.
See it in person
Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier is in the collection of The National Portrait Gallery at St Martin's Place, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
