Ernest Meissonier
Ernest Meissonier (1815–1891) was a French painter whose carefully finished small pictures developed from an early career in printmaking and book illustration. His formal artistic training was limited, but his command of detailed description became central to his reputation. Seventeenth-century Dutch and Flemish scenes offered important precedents for his early work, including the painting he exhibited at the Salon in 1834.
He developed subjects involving musicians, artists and figures in historical costume, often placing them within settings associated with earlier French life. Military experience also became an important source. After joining the army during the Austro-Italian War, he painted soldiers and more ambitious historical episodes, extending the range and sometimes the scale of his work while retaining a meticulous approach.
On a Terrace represents the more intimate side of that practice. A costumed figure and architectural boundary are sufficient to evoke a literary world without illustrating a securely identified incident. Such paintings ask for close looking at proportion, finish and the relation between a small figure and its surroundings. Meissonier's attention to detail was integral to the experience of the work, making the preserved physical size part of its particular mode of address. Its small details remain connected to the arrangement of the complete scene.