Lejeune, Louis François

Lejeune, Louis François, Baron (1776-1848), French general, painter, and lithographer, was born at Versailles. As aide-de-camp to General Berthier he took an active part in many of the Napoleonic campaigns, which he made the subjects of an important series of battle-pictures. The vogue he enjoyed is due to the truth and vigour of his work, which was generally executed from sketches and studies made on the battlefield. When his battle-pictures were shown at the Egyptian Hall in London, a rail had to be put up to protect them from the eager crowds of sightseers. Among his chief works are “The Entry of Charles X. into Paris, 6 June 1825” at Versailles; “Episode of the Prussian War, October 1807” at Douai Museum; “Marengo” (1801); “Lodi,” “Thabor,” “Aboukir” (1804); “The Pyramids” (1806); “Passage of the Rhine in 1795” (1824), and “Moskawa” (1812). The German campaign of 1806 brought him to Munich, where he visited the workshop of Senefelder, the inventor of lithography. Lejeune was so fascinated by the possibilities of the new method that he then and there made the drawing on stone of his famous “Cossack” (printed by C. and T. Senefelder, 1806). Whilst he was taking his dinner, and with his horses harnessed and waiting to take him back to Paris, one hundred proofs were printed, one of which he subsequently submitted to Napoleon. The introduction of lithography into France was greatly due to the efforts of Lejeune. Many of his battle-pictures were engraved by Coiny and Bovinet.