Miniature watercolor painting "Wounding of Marshal Murat" E.v.S. dated 1847

A superb miniature battle scene in panoramic format, watercolor on paper, from the artist's portfolio of the master E.v.S., executed 1847.

This elongated horizontal watercolor depicts a dramatic cavalry charge featuring numerous mounted officers in Napoleonic uniforms, smoke-filled battlefields and fallen soldiers in the foreground. The masterful execution reveals finely detailed uniforms, individualized horses and a powerful atmospheric depth achieved through smoke and fire. Hallmarks of the Romantic military painting tradition of the first half of the 19th century.

The scene depicts the wounding of cavalry general and Marshal Joachim Murat (1767–1815), brother-in-law of Napoleon I and King of Naples. One of the most celebrated cavalry commanders of his era, Murat met his dramatic end in 1815 during a final bid to reclaim his Neapolitan throne. Captured after a failed landing in Calabria, he was tried by court martial and executed by firing squad on 13 October 1815 in Pizzo. The scene captures the tragic final chapter of the Napoleonic age.

According to the original typewritten label accompanying the work, this watercolor was taken from the "artist's portfolio of the master E.v.S." and executed in 1847 barely thirty years after the depicted events, at the height of Romantic fascination with the Napoleonic era. The aristocratic monogram style ("E.v.S." von being a German noble particle) suggests the artist was a gifted gentleman amateur, likely from the German-speaking or Austrian nobility.

The sheet is in excellent condition and is presented in an elegant gilt frame with a cream-colored multi-line passepartout mount.

Overall frame dimensions: 42 × 28.5 cm; watercolor image: 22 × 7 cm.