Praga 1831: Dédié aux Polonais

Uncolored lithograph; standing soldier figure in snow, broken sword hanging at hip, conflagration in background. 'Leon Cogniet offers here a deeply political and controversial topical image by illustrating the destruction of the city of Praga east of Warsaw during the Russo-Polish war of 1831. The Polish officer in the foreground has just ordered the destruction of the city in flames in the background, to ensure that his artillery can have a clear line of sight against the Russian army. He wears the Legion of Honor in his uniform, proof that he fought for France in 1814 and is witnessing the destruction of his own country in the face of the indifference of the French government. The fate of Poland had deeply troubled many Parisian liberals, and Leon Cogniet was one of the artists who drew the authorities' attention to the French debt to the Poles' -- Galerie la Nouvelle Athènes Uncolored lithograph; standing soldier figure in snow, broken sword hanging at hip, conflagration in background. 'Leon Cogniet offers here a deeply political and controversial topical image by illustrating the destruction of the city of Praga east of Warsaw during the Russo-Polish war of 1831. The Polish officer in the foreground has just ordered the destruction of the city in flames in the background, to ensure that his artillery can have a clear line of sight against the Russian army. He wears the Legion of Honor in his uniform, proof that he fought for France in 1814 and is witnessing the destruction of his own country in the face of the indifference of the French government. The fate of Poland had deeply troubled many Parisian liberals, and Leon Cogniet was one of the artists who drew the authorities' attention to the French debt to the Poles' -- Galerie la Nouvelle Athènes Small upright folio, matted; margins intact; surface dirt. N.Y., Rockman Prints, 1954.