Edouard Manet, The Execution Of Emperor I Maximilian II

Edouard Manet, The Execution Of Emperor I Maximilian II

"The Execution of Emperor Maximilian" is a series of paintings by Édouard Manet from 1867 to 1869, depicting the execution of Emperor Maximilian I by the firing squad.

Maximilian arrived in Mexico in 1864. During his reign, he encountered significant opposition from forces loyal to ousted President Benito Juárez, and the short-lived Second Mexican Empire collapsed after Napoleon withdrew French troops in 1866. In 1867, he was captured, sentenced to death by a military court, and executed on June 19, 1867, along with General Miguel Miramón and Tomás Mejía.

Manet, supporting the Republican cause, took inspiration to start working on a painting greatly influenced by Goya's "The Third of May 1808". In this final version of the painting, Mexican soldiers are dressed in field dress from the 19th century, which was common in many armies of the time. Manet was aware of the irony that they could be confused with French soldiers. The sergeant wearing a red beret resembles Napoleon III. In reality, the execution was bungled and a coup de grâce was necessary.

The final work painted in 1868-1869 is now curated by the Kunsthalle Mannheim. The painting is signed by Manet in the lower left corner but carries the date of Maximilian's execution in 1867, even though it was painted two years later.

Political sensitivities made it impossible for Manet to exhibit his paintings during the period of Napoleon III (1808 – 1873) in France.

Maximilian and his two generals were executed by firing squad in 1867. Manet was outraged by the death of Maximilian, seen as a victim of Napoleon III's political ambition and incompetence. Manet decided that the execution warranted an artistic treatment on an epic scale. This damaged painting is the second of four versions he made between 1867 and 1868. Manet abandoned this version of the painting due to the differences in the size of the figures. A photograph taken in 1883 shows that the left side of the canvas was removed and the painting was damaged elsewhere. Part of this work was cut by Manet, but most of it was completed with his death. After Manet's death, his family cut the canvas and sold the pieces separately. The surviving pieces were bought by Degas and were purchased by the National Gallery in 1918. They were finally reassembled on a single canvas in the late 1970s.