Artillery Practice

Description In 1852, Pils switched his focus from religious and genre scenes to military paintings. His decision to do so may have been prompted by the events that precipitated the Crimean War (1854-56), during which Napoleon III encouraged public support for his military exploits by granting major government commissions for scenes that glorified his victories. However, Pils' ill health prevented him from traveling. Therefore, he adapted his battle scenes from firsthand accounts and newspaper stories about the war. Moreover, he spent a great deal of time sketching at Vincennes, a major military encampment near Paris.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
5/09/1977	Treatment	repaired
1/01/2002	Treatment	examined for exhibition; re-housed; other

Exhibitions

• War à la Mode: Military Painting from the Forbes Collection. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1977.
• A Supple Brush: The Flowering of Continental Watercolors. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1979.
• A Connoisseur's Portfolio: Nineteenth-century Drawings and Watercolors in the Walters Art Gallery. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1983.
• A Discerning Eye: Nineteenth-century Drawings and Watercolors. Academy Art Museum, Easton. 1998-1999.
• Botanical Delights: Floral Motifs in 19th-Century Art. Government House, Annapolis; Strathmore Hall Art Center, North Bethesda; Academy Art Museum, Easton. 1998-1999.
• The Essence of Line: French Drawings from Ingres to Degas. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore; Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham; Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma. 2005-2006.

Provenance William T. Walters, Baltimore, before 1879, by purchase [from the artist]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894, by inheritance; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Inscriptions [Signed and dated] Lower right in red watercolor: I. Pils 1860 [date changed from 1859]; [Watermark] Lower right edge: J Whatman Turkey Mill

Credit Acquired by William T. Walters, before 1879