George Dawe (1781-1829)
In 1815, Field Marshal Prince Von Blücher was the head of the Prussian army which was defeated by Napoleon at the Battle of Ligny, at which he was badly injured.
Undaunted, the 73 year old Field Marshal kept his promise to Wellington to join him at Waterloo. His arrival with this battered and hungry army sealed the fate of the French.
The Prussian army pursued Napoleon’s defeated troops back towards Paris. He and Wellington met at 5pm on the 18th June, in time to secure the final defeat of Napoleon’s army.
George Dawe became court painter in St Petersburg in 1819. Many of the portraits he painted can be seen in the ‘War Gallery of 1812’ in the Hermitage Museum.