![Édouard Manet - Les Petits cavaliers [1859] | by petrus.agricola](http://live.staticflickr.com/4321/35549301360_65cac7a734.jpg)
Édouard Manet - Les Petits cavaliers [1859]
Édouard Manet - Les Petits cavaliers [1859]
Norfolk, Viginia, Chrysler MA
This is an oil on canvas painting. It depicts thirteen cavaliers gathered in a field. It is done after Velázquez's*) Gathering of Gentlemen, currently in the Louvre.
The thirteen well dressed cavaliers are in two side groupings, and one center grouping of seven. They all face different directions, five of them have their backs to the viewer, and ten have their heads at the same level. They wear long leather boots, coats and swords along with the hats with feathers. They all appear to be engaged in conversation with each other.
Like many French artists, Edouard Manet honed his skills by copying artworks in the Louvre. He was especially attracted to the inventive brushwork, bright clarity, strong tonal contrasts, and clear outlines that he found in works by the 17th-century Spanish artist Diego Velázquez. The Little Cavaliers is Manet’s version of a painting once thought to be by the Spanish master (see illustration). Consider how Manet uses his work to align himself with Velázquez, and perhaps to outdo him.
Source: Chrysler Museum
*) Scholars now believe it to be a painting from an unknown painter from Madrid (École madrilène) about 1650 CE.
Édouard Manet - Les Petits cavaliers [1859]
Édouard Manet - Les Petits cavaliers [1859]
Norfolk, Viginia, Chrysler MA
This is an oil on canvas painting. It depicts thirteen cavaliers gathered in a field. It is done after Velázquez's*) Gathering of Gentlemen, currently in the Louvre.
The thirteen well dressed cavaliers are in two side groupings, and one center grouping of seven. They all face different directions, five of them have their backs to the viewer, and ten have their heads at the same level. They wear long leather boots, coats and swords along with the hats with feathers. They all appear to be engaged in conversation with each other.
Like many French artists, Edouard Manet honed his skills by copying artworks in the Louvre. He was especially attracted to the inventive brushwork, bright clarity, strong tonal contrasts, and clear outlines that he found in works by the 17th-century Spanish artist Diego Velázquez. The Little Cavaliers is Manet’s version of a painting once thought to be by the Spanish master (see illustration). Consider how Manet uses his work to align himself with Velázquez, and perhaps to outdo him.
Source: Chrysler Museum
*) Scholars now believe it to be a painting from an unknown painter from Madrid (École madrilène) about 1650 CE.