Antoine-Jean Gros, (March 1771 - June 1835) was a Romantic painter from France well known for his historical pictures in which he depicted significant events in Napoleon’s military career. He was lucky to have a father who was an artist and he received his first art training from him. His father was a painter of miniatures. Gros entered the studio of Jacques-Louis David who was his father’s friend in 1785. Gros revered David but not his cerebral Neoclassical style which was not in agreement with Gros’ passionate and romantic nature. So as a student he was more influenced by Peter Paul Rubens’ color and energetic brushwork and by the Venetians than the linearism of Neoclassicists, which even though was favored by his contemporaries, he considered it to be too hard. In 1793, Gros went to Italy, with David’s help, and while in Genoa, he met Joséphine de Beauharnais and, through her, he also met Napoleon, his hero.
Three years later, he followed the French army to Arcole and he remembered seeing Napoleon planting the French flag on the bridge. He was so excited by this incident that he memorized in his 1796 piece of art titled “Napoleon on the Bridge at Arcole.” He was bestowed the rank of inspecteur aux revues by Napoleon and helped him in selecting works of art from Italy for the Louvre and also accompanied him on his campaigns. Of all the artists, Gros had the most significant effect on the rising generation of Romantic painters. The dramatic power, richness, and elegance of such paintings as Napoleon on the Battlefield at Eylau and Napoleon Visiting the Pesthouse at Jaffa influenced artists such as Eugène Delacroix and Théodore Géricault.
