On a Terrace (1867): Art, History and Details

On a Terrace (1867) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Ernest Meissonier (French, 1815–1891).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Trained as a printmaker and book illustrator, Meissonier specialized in small paintings depicting scenes from French history and literature. This painting on wood panel depicts a man dressed like a character from The Three Musketeers (published in 1844) by Alexandre Dumas père. Such paintings, admired for their technical virtuosity and romantic subjects, were immensely popular. Meissonier also painted contemporary military subjects and themes and became an arch-foe of the Realist painter Gustave Courbet.

Object facts

• Title: On a Terrace
• Date: 1867
• Creator attribution: Ernest Meissonier (French, 1815–1891)
• Culture: France, 19th century
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on wood panel
• Dimensions: Framed: 50.5 x 40 x 8 cm (19 7/8 x 15 3/4 x 3 1/8 in.)
• Collection: Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960
• Department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1986.68

A detail from the museum

Meissionier was known for his masterful draftsmanship and scrupulous attention to detail. He amassed a "work library" of accessories from local costume markets to ensure that the subjects in his paintings were authenticity attired.

Collection credit

Bequest of Clara Louise Gehring Bickford

Further reading listed by the museum

• The Complete Works of E. Meissonier: With Biography. New York, NY: J.W. Bouton, 1884.
• Meissonier, Jean Louis Ernest. The Complete Works of E. Meissonier: With Biography. New York: J.W. Bouton, 1884.
• Chaumelin, Marius. Portraits d'Artistes. Paris: C. Marpon et E. Flammarion, 1887.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.