01 Work, The Art of War, Maurice Orange's The Defenders of Zaragoza, with footnotes

Maurice Orange

The Defenders of Zaragoza 

Oil on canvas

3 meters by 4.60

Thomas-Henry Museum, Cherbourg-Octeville

The second siege of Zaragoza was the French capture of the Spanish city of Zaragoza (also known as Saragossa) during the Peninsular War. It was particularly noted for its brutality. The city was heavily outnumbered against the French. However, the desperate resistance put up by the Army of Reserve and its civilian allies had been heroic: a great part of the city lay in ruins, the garrison had suffered 24,000 deaths being augmented by 30,000 civilians dead. More on the fall of Zaragoza

A specialist in the representation of the Emperor's campaigns, Maurice Orange does not glorify Napoleon I , but rather honors the Spanish civilian population who resisted valiantly and paraded in front of the French grenadiers and Marshal Lannes, barely visible on his horse. More on this painting

Maurice Orange (9 March 1867, Granville - 28 February 1916, Paris) was a French painter and artist. He gained a scholarship to the École des Beaux-Arts in 1885, where he studied under Jean-Léon Gerome and François Flameng. He was mainly inspired by historical subjects, especially the Napoleonic era, though he also produced portraits, landscapes, townscapes and sketches, often adding drawings to his letters.

From 1887 to 1914 he took part in the Salon des Artistes Français. He won medals and travel bursaries to Spain, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Africa and above all Egypt became a major influences on him. He worked in oils, watercolour, gouache, pastel and charcoal. He died of typhoid fever in 1916. More on Maurice Orange

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