One of a kind, 1807, FriedlandFriedland stands as Meissonier’s most ambitious work: a sweeping oil on canvas, over 53 by 95 inches, that evokes Napoleon’s great victory at Friedland in June 1807. Begun in the early 1860s and polished over more than a decade of preparatory studies drawings, sculptures, models, it captures the Emperor mounted on a white charger, surrounded by marshals Bessières, Duroc, Berthier, and Nansouty. Purchased sight unseen in 1876 for the then-extraordinary sum of $60,000 by Alexander T. Stewart, it reflects both Meissonier’s rigorous commitment to historical precision and his mastery of grandeur. Gifted to the Met in 1887, this masterpiece remains a singular jewel in the heroic Napoleonic tradition.